'I Reserve The Right To Vote No Later On The Floor': Kennedy Voices Concern About Pending Bill

5 months ago

At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) gave his reservations to the Protecting Older Americans Act.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your courtesy. I have to go to another committee,

00:09 and I wanted to just make a quick comment about Senator Gillibrand's and Senator Graham's

00:15 Protecting Older Americans Act. I've really struggled with this bill. I believe in access

00:23 to our courts. I plan today to vote to get the bill out of committee with two caveats.

00:32 Number one, that's assuming we don't screw it up with some bad amendments. I understand that

00:38 bad is subjective, but the second, I reserve the right to vote no later on the floor.

00:44 I don't like contracts of adhesion. There's a reason that the common law and many civil

00:50 law jurisdictions prohibit them. On the other hand, I believe in the freedom to contract,

00:56 and there's a delicate balance here. I think the Senate is smart enough to find that balance. I'm

01:05 not sure we have the balance in this bill, but it's a start. So I'm going to vote yes today to

01:12 get the bill out of the committee, subject to the condition that if we screw it up with amendments,

01:19 I'm going to be a no, and I may be a no on the floor. I thank the chairman for his

01:29 indulgence in letting me do this, and I heard Senator Whitehouse's snide comment by the way,

01:36 too. So I think I did it within the two minutes. It is a constant patter I hear in my left ear.

'I Reserve The Right To Vote No Later On The Floor': Kennedy Voices Concern About Pending Bill

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