For the Relief of the Parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo
FOR THE RELIEF OF THE PARENTS OF THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO -- (House of Representatives - March 20, 2005)
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Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, we are turning a sad family tragedy into a grotesque legislative travesty. It is a tragedy. But what we are talking about tonight is nothing other than inserting our judgment for the courts. Today every day in every county in America, families, doctors, hospital chaplains are making life-and-death decisions, tough decisions and tender decisions. Each one has its own circumstance, and Congress cannot reasonably understand each and should not be involved. For 215 years it has been a solid principle of this country that Congress is not involved in issues like this.
Today in church at Palm Sunday services, I read the bulletin, and as is the usual practice there was a list of the sick and hospitalized, the homebound. I read each name. There are some family tragedies in that list and some tragedies yet to come. But those families would not want Congress to send them to one court or another for a review. This evening I had dinner with a family, my own relatives who yesterday and today had visited the hospital where the family decided to remove the feeding tube from a loved one. They came out of the hospital to find, to their dismay, that Congress is second guessing their decision. Imagine how they feel. Why should they believe that Congress will stay out of their personal affairs?
By the way, why are we debating this case? I do not want to be too cynical, but could it be that the TV cameras are rolling?
Doctors sometimes make the wrong decisions, Mr. Speaker. Families sometimes make the wrong decisions. But the wisdom of the founders of this government in not putting these decisions in the Congress is that they understood that most of the time we would make the wrong decisions. We do not know the facts of this case or thousands of others that are out there today despite assertions to the contrary tonight.
That is why we should not, we should not, substitute our judgment for the courts. Congress should not play doctor, certainly not by long-distance video or hearsay diagnosis, nor should we be the judiciary. If Congress wants to avoid tragedies like this, we should deal with policy questions, such as adequate home care for the 8 million Americans who need it and see that Medicare and Medicaid provide adequate long-term care. Yes, we should spend our time that way, and every Member of this body should spend the time tonight talking with their family members about advanced medical directives and living wills. That is something we can do to help prevent tragedies like this.
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