Dan Burton

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to honor the life and memory of a young Hoosier soldier who recently fell while serving his country in the U.S. Army. Capt. Milton Palmer was a bright and committed American soldier pursuing his dream of becoming an Army Ranger and serving his country for the balance of his life. Training in the swamplands of Florida's Eglin Air Force Base, Captain Palmer was just a few days away from completing the grueling 13-week trial that would set him apart as one of America's elite soldiers--a U.S. Army Ranger. The final days of training were understandably the most difficult, the most demanding. During one of these fateful days, the Ranger trainees had to simulate an assault operation in chest-deep, 50-degree waters, which would push any man to the very edge of survival. Captain Palmer would not join his fellow trainees as they graduated from the Ranger Program in Fort Benning, GA, and solemnly accepted their new monikers. He and three other determined would-be Rangers died of hypothermia during that combat training exercise on February 15. While I did not know Captain Palmer, I know some of his inspiring story. He was the middle child of three. Along with his older sister Torria and little brother Nathan, Milton grew up in a military family. His parents were able to keep the family close-knit, even during the moves and long tours of duty that are common among Army families. His father, a retired major, dedicated his entire adult life to military service, and Milton planned to follow in his father's footsteps. He was only 27 when he took the last of these steps. Like other American heroes and leaders, Captain Palmer had an indomitable spirit and a willingness to meet adversity head-on. He attended the Citadel Military Academy, graduating with honors in 1990. Once in the service of his country, Captain Palmer earned several achievement commendations. He was awarded for his skills as an infantryman and parachutist--``leading the way''--to paraphrase the Ranger motto. And not long after graduation, he entered the Ranger Training Program in hopes of realizing one of his ambitious goals. Suffering from exposure and frostbite, Milton was eventually forced to cut short his participation in the demanding and grueling program. But this would not deter him from pursuing his dream of joining the ranks of the U.S. Army Rangers. Captain Palmer would return to the Ranger Program to inspire his comrades as they pursued the same dream. He would challenge them to overcome both the elements that weakened their bodies and the fears that tried their spirits. It was during this second trial in the Ranger Program that Capt. Milton Palmer would pass away. He died while pursuing his goal, inspiring those who knew him and his story through it all. However, to remember Captain Palmer and those other fallen trainees only for their pursuit of a common personal goals is not enough, because in the end these brave young men died for something much greater than themselves or any one of us who survive them. Captain Palmer and the three Ranger trainees that died with him laid down their lives so that we might be free. Their deaths were not senseless. The tragedy at Eglin Air Force Base reminds us that our freedom comes at a high price. Readiness and preparedness--ensured by training missions like the one that claimed young Milton and three of his brothers--deter our enemies and prevent war. These men did not die in vain. And so, it is fitting that Arlington National Cemetery, the eternal home of so many of America's other heroes and martyrs, will serve as Capt. Milton Palmer's final resting place. For Captain Palmer was a hero, epitomizing the American military tradition of fidelity and bravery, preserving our freedom, and challenging us to follow his courageous example.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Reclaiming my time, I do not know how you would work out a sliding scale. It would be very difficult. I do believe there ought to be a penalty for a lawsuit where they are way out of kilter, but 100 percent just does not seem fair to me. So I will be proposing an amendment, and, in the interim, if we could talk and maybe figure out some kind of a compromise that would be fine. I will propose an amendment that says loser pays 25 percent of the defendant's legal fees, and not 100 percent.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Or more, if you have a really involved case.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, 10 days before the trial, this is a very contentious case, the defense has two attorneys working on it at 10 hours a day, 20 hours a day at $100 an hour, that is $2,000 a day, but I think that is a low fee for some of these attorneys. Say it is $2,000 a day plus clerical and everything else. In 10 days you are looking at $25,000 or $30,000 in legal fees.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Everything before 10 days before the trial is not included?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Let us say that it is a reasonable value and that it comes out to $25,000.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. OK; well, let us say it is a 40-percent contingency basis; OK? So 40 percent of $75,000 is what, $30,000?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. So his lawyer, if he was on a 40-percent contingency basis, and he got a----

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I would like to have a hypothetical story, and then I would like to ask a question of the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Goodlatte]. Fellow is driving across the Ohio State-Indiana border, and interstate trucking company has a trucker who loses control of the vehicle through his own negligence, and he hits this car, and he puts this fellow in the hospital, and the fellow has a major shoulder injury, and he goes through several surgeries, and after several surgeries it is evident that he is going to be physically impaired probably for the rest of his life. So he goes to the trucker, trucking company, or to his insurer, and he says, ``Look, I'm going to be impaired the rest of my life. I'd like, to have a $500,000 damage settlement,'' his attorney does. And they say, ``Well, I tell you what. We've looked at your case, and we think we'll give you $50,000.'' And so they come back, and they go through the preliminaries, and the plaintiff says, ``OK, I'll go to $400,000,'' and the defendant says, ``We'll go up to $100,000,'' and there they hit the loggerhead, and they go to a trial, and the trial goes on for--this process drags out for about 2 or 3 months, and during the trial the jury does not like the way the defendant--or the plaintiff looks, or they do not like some of the things that his attorney says, and they decide to give him $75,000 instead of the $100,000, which is lower than the last best offer, and, because they settle on $75,000, he is liable for all of the defense's legal fees, as I understand it.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I really believe we should take a hard look at having a lower percentage than 100 percent. I think 25 percent sounds reasonable.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Reclaiming my time, the man has a permanent disability. Because of the jury's decision, he is going to end up with $25,000, and he has a lifetime of pain and suffering. It just seems to me there ought to be some balance in this. For the plaintiff to pay 100 percent of the legal fees of the defendant is exorbitant. I think there ought to be some compromise. There ought to be a penalty, but I do not think the penalty should be 100 percent. It seems to me that something like 25 percent would be a more realistic figure. There is a penalty involved, he knows he is going to have to pay, but 100 percent loser- pays makes absolutely no sense to me.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. So that would be a total of $50,000 that he would be out as far as legal obligations. For his shoulder injury, that is a permanent impairment, he now is going to get a $25,000 settlement in reality.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. OK; so he has to pay $25,000 of the defense's legal fees?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we are not going to take food out of hungry children's mouths, and we are not going to cut Social Security. That is baloney. But let me tell you something that really is happening, today. The President of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury are sending $52 billion, $52 thousand million down to Mexico, without any act of Congress. This is where the people's money is supposed to be spent, in the Congress of the United States. They could not get the votes to bail out Mexico in the Congress, so the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, who is protecting his own rear end in my opinion because he is a financial adviser, did an end run around the Congress of the United States. They have already sent $7 billion, $7 thousand million down to Mexico, and that economy continues to go down into the tank. We need an up or down vote in this Congress on spending the taxpayers' money to bail out Mexico. The President is not a dictator. He should not be doing it unilaterally.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Very good.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I appreciate that very much. But if it was not for you introducing the bill and working so hard getting all those cosigners on that letter, we would not be at this point right now. But the battle is not over. We need to fight very hard in the next few days to bring a bill to the floor so we can have an up-or-down vote. If we do that, get it to the floor, it will pass and it will pass, as you said, handily.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Anything else from my colleague?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I hope everyone got that; $100 million for every congressional district in the country is going down there.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I agree with my colleague entirely, and I cannot believe if there is a default on the loan that our Government and the people we represent are going to stand still for pouring good money after bad. tell you, $100 million, I could run a darn good campaign on that, too.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I think that information is essential, but in addition to that, we need to get Mr. Stockman's bill to the floor which would stop this loan program completely. Because we represent the American people. And we cannot take care of a lot of the problems we have in this country. Right now, we are cutting spending dramatically. Six subcommittees of appropriations I understand last week cut $17 billion out of programs here in the United States. That is $17 billion. And while we are cutting U.S. programs, as we should, to get this Government under control and to reduce the size of Government, we are spending up to $53 billion bailing out Mexico with no collateral. It makes absolutely no sense. None whatsoever.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. He did not testify the outside person?

Mr. BURTON of Indiana

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Let me just say I concur with much of what my colleague from Ohio just said. The fact of the matter is none of this should have happened in the first place. It should have been brought before the Congress for an up or down vote right from the get-go, but unfortunately the President found that he did not have the votes to pass it. Eighty percent of the American people did not want this to take place. And so what did they do? They did an end run around the Congress of the United States and they used the Exchange Stabilization Fund, I believe illegally, to bail out Mexico. As has been said here before, the peso continues to drop. Let me just tell Members something. I believe, and I think I have heard today, that $7 billion has already been sent to Mexico, and while this resolution today, this resolution of inquiry is absolutely essential so we can get the facts for the American people, it certainly is not enough and we need to act very expeditiously in this Chamber to cut off additional funds from going down there. What I am afraid is going to happen is this resolution of inquiry is going to go on for weeks and months before we get all of the facts, and more and more and more of American taxpayer dollars are going to go down there during the interim. We need to bring legislation to this floor immediately, cutting off any more money going to Mexico until we get the answers to these questions. We have got it backward. We should stop the money from going down there first, then get the answers to the questions before we send one more dime down there. I fear the $7 billion that has already been sent is down a rat hole, and we are talking about another $45 billion on top of it, not $45 million, folks, 45 thousand-million-American dollars. The taxpayers of this country do not want it. That country is in real economic turmoil, and we simply cannot afford to use taxpayers' dollars to bail them out, especially when we do not have all the facts.

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.