[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CLOTURE VOTES ON S. 2207 AND S. 1637

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President I rise to discuss S. 2207, Pregnancy and 
Trauma Care Access Protection Act of 2004, and S. 1637, the Jumpstart 
our Business Strength (JOBS) Act. Unfortunately I did not have an 
opportunity to cast a cloture vote yesterday on S. 2207 due to my 
observance of Passover in Connecticut. The medical malpractice problem 
is a difficult issue and one about which I have long been concerned. We 
need to strike the appropriate balance so that we have a system that 
ensures those harmed by medical negligence are justly compensated while 
at the same time not set up a system that unnecessarily inflates 
insurance rates. I have long sought to address this issue in a fair and 
rational way. For instance, I authored several bipartisan and balanced 
reform bills with Senator McConnell in the past. Unfortunately, the 
bills that have been before the Senate this Congress have been neither 
bipartisan nor balanced.
  This includes the Pregnancy and Trauma Care Access Protection Act of 
2004. S. 2207 goes further than necessary and than advertised, offering 
limited liability not only to doctors, but also to medical device 
manufacturers and drug companies. Furthermore, the $250,000 cap on 
noneconomic damages included in this bill may often prove too low for 
many seriously harmed patients. I believe in meaningful and fair 
medical malpractice reform; but this bill and the others debated on the 
floor this session simply do not fit that description. For these 
reasons I would have voted against cloture for S. 2207, which failed to 
receive the needed 60 votes by 49 to 48.
  I was also unable to cast a second cloture vote on a motion to 
recommit S. 1637, the ``Jumpstart our Business Strength (JOBS) Act,'' a 
bill to repeal the foreign sales corporation tax regime, and its 
successor, the extraterritorial income tax regime, that have been found 
to be an illegal export subsidy by the World Trade Organization. I 
voted against the first cloture filing on March 24 and, had I been 
present on April 7, I would also have voted against cloture. The 
cloture vote failed to meet the 60-vote threshold by 50 to 47. I 
support many of the provisions of the underlying bill, S. 1637, which 
provides tax relief to domestic manufacturers, curtails abusive tax 
shelters, and contains a number of international tax simplification and 
reform measures.
  Cloture would have prevented debate on a number of amendments that 
deserve to be debated and voted upon. The Senate must renew efforts to 
bring the FSC/ETI bill to the floor, to pass S. 1637, while at the same 
time allowing open debate and votes on issues of importance to American 
employees.

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