[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17529]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   AUCTIONING OFF THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, the New York Times reports that during the 
Vioxx trial in Texas, a cardiologist testified that the pain killer 
likely led to the needless death of Robert Ernst. Mr. Ernst was a 
produce manager at Wal-Mart who also ran marathons and worked as a 
personal trainer.
  He took Vioxx for 8 months before he died of an irregular heartbeat, 
making him one of the 55,000 people who needlessly died as a result of 
taking Vioxx.
  As we debate medical malpractice legislation tomorrow, I hope my 
colleagues will keep Mr. Ernst's tragedy in mind. Only in this Congress 
would we consider legislation that specifically protects the drug 
manufacturers like Merck from any form of liability while a trial is 
presently ongoing that directly affects that legislation. I am not 
aware of any other industry that gets this type of liability protection 
just for going through a governmental approval process.
  While families such as Mr. Ernst's fight for fairness in court, this 
body, the people's House, is fighting to protect the drug companies. I 
plan to introduce the Vioxx amendment striking this blatantly 
beneficial provision written for and by the pharmaceutical industry.
  Mr. Speaker, when your gavel opens up the people's House, it should 
open up the people's House and their voices should be heard, not the 
auction house.

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