[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 24, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H4435-H4436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 KEEPING PROMISES TO AMERICA'S PATIENTS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, Napoleon Bonaparte once said that ``if you 
wanted to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver 
nothing.'' But we all know how successful Napoleon fared.
  Yet, the supporters of the Ganske-Dingell Patients' Bill of Rights 
and its Senate equivalent seem to have forgotten the lessons of 
Napoleon Bonaparte. They are promising American families new patient 
protections and rights to

[[Page H4436]]

health care. But, like Napoleon, they are promising everything and 
delivering nothing.
  The unlimited liability in their ``lawyer's right to sue'' bill will 
result in over 6 million Americans losing their health care insurance. 
What type of patient protection is that? Rather than doctors taking 
care of their health needs, Americans will be finding trial lawyers 
taking them to the cleaners.
  Americans deserve to get the health care they need and when they need 
it, a real promise we can keep and must deliver.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support a real 
Patients' Bill of Rights, the bipartisan Fletcher-Peterson Patients' 
Bill of Rights.

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