House Backs Ban on Obesity Lawsuits

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Watt, who is black, called the bill "crap" when Sensenbrenner likened it to historic civil rights legislation. Watt quickly apologized.

 

Let's put that in context..

 

"I am not surprised, but I am extremely insulted, that this piece of crap, this bill, would be put on the same level that our civil rights laws in this country have been put on.

 

Now, I am not surprised. I knew that was coming, because we have had this discussion with my chairman on several occasions on this floor. But I want you to know that the notion that there are basic constitutional rights that the civil rights laws had to enact to enforce was based on rights that were articulated in the Constitution. The right to vote, and it is a shame that we had to have legislation at the Federal level to make it clear that the right to vote applied to all of our citizens in this country, there is no comparison between this bill and that.

 

The right to travel on a bus and sit where you want, it is a shame that we had to have Federal legislation to tell the States that they had to enforce that basic human constitutional right.

 

I am insulted that this piece of legislation, and if I went too far in calling it a piece of crap, I apologize to the Chair. I knew he shuddered when I said that, so maybe that is going too far. But it is an abomination for us to be trying to compare this statute to the civil rights laws."

 

and here's what he was replying to

 

"Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina and I have a little bit different view of the role of federalism in our country. All I can say is I am happy that his view did not prevail during the great debates on civil rights that occurred in this Chamber and down the hall in the Senate Chamber during the sixties, seventies and eighties, because the notion of States' rights would not have been agreed to by the gentleman from North Carolina."