Bill Cassidy, chairing the committee holding the bill, says he has not seen it
United States Senator for Louisiana and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, responding to questions from MS NOW
“I haven't seen this particular legislation.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Source for Bill Cassidy's response as chairman of the committee holding the bill, John Cornyn's "All in" post on X, Chuck Schumer's reaction, and Alexis McGill Johnson's statement. Also records that spokespeople for Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski did not respond to questions about the bill, and that the two were the only Republican senators who declined to sign a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services calling for a mifepristone crackdown.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
S. 4066 had been referred to Cassidy's committee the previous day. He had held a hearing in January on what he called the dangers of mifepristone and had joined an amicus brief on the drug's dispensing rules. He was facing a primary challenge.
After the quotation
The bill has received no committee action in the six months since. A Cassidy spokesperson referred questions to the senator's past work on the issue.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should Congress ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, as Josh Hawley has proposed?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case's fixed reference point is Hawley's proposition that Congress should ban mifepristone by revoking its federal approval. Asked directly for his position on the bill, Cassidy closed the question by saying he had not seen it, while stating a general view on abortion pill availability. That is a refusal to take a position on the specific proposal. The closest competing label is defends_or_excuses, because he volunteered that he opposes the drug's current availability. That loses because the case's reference point is the congressional ban, not availability in the abstract; his general remark does not commit him to the bill, and the operative part of the answer withholds a position on it.
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- People and groups discussed
- Josh Hawley
Should Congress ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, as Josh Hawley has proposed?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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