[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 81 (Friday, June 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WHERE DO THE REPUBLICANS STAND?

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, Republicans continue to do everything they 
can to block the teen smoking and the campaign finance legislation. 
They want to preserve soft money and keep the obscenely large 
contributions from big tobacco and other special interests rolling in 
to fill their campaign coffers.
  We know on Wednesday Senate Republicans killed the comprehensive bill 
to help stop teen smoking, and the GOP's efforts showed where the 
Republicans stand: in the pocket of the big tobacco companies who want 
to snuff out any real efforts to prevent kids from smoking.
  And now we see the same thing happening with regard to managed care 
reform, patient protections. We have not been able to get a hearing on 
patient protections; we have not had any effort really to try to bring 
a bill to the floor that would reform managed care in the way that most 
Americans want to see something happen this year in Congress, to make 
it possible for us to have quality health care in this country.
  What we are seeing here on a regular basis is Republican efforts to 
kill every major piece of progressive legislation, whether it is the 
tobacco settlement, it is campaign finance reform, or it is managed 
care reform.

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