June 11, 2003 In his June 11th speech, President Bush asked Congress to severely limit compensation in medical malpractice cases, calling lawsuits ""junk" . My life has been ruined by senseless medical malpractice that happened to me when my mother gave birth to me. For over twenty-five years I have lived with Cerebral Palsy due to a doctor's mistake in the way he handled my delivery. I did not file a ""junk"" lawsuit and certainly wouldn't compare my settlement to a "jackpot". The damages I settled my lawsuit for were a mere fraction of the amount I deserved based on everything I have endured, and will continue to endure, both physically and emotionally throughout my life . Every penny of this small settlement is going towards my care and services I need so I am not a financial burden on my parents or the state. Before I settled this lawsuit, my parents had to fight their insurance company in order for me to have surgeries for me to walk and have some kind of an independent life. They paid for most of my services out of their own pockets. I guess it's my fault because my mother's umbilical cord prolapsed during her labor when the obstetrician should have already been performing a caesarean section delivery? What if one of the President's daughters had a baby who was injured due to a doctor's careless error during delivery? Would their emotional damage only be worth $250,000? I would bet the President's opinion on this matter would change quickly! This is a hard issue for someone like me to debate. On the one hand , I do not want to see any more children be injured by doctors. Yet I understand the public's fear of "striking doctors". While victims have said time after time not every doctor is horrible. Not one doctor nor the President has truly come to grips with the fact medical malpractice is the problem, not the amount of damages being paid out by juries. The key to lowering premiums is stopping the malpractice to begin with, not limiting the amount of damages a victim can receive and certainly not reducing the statue of limitations! I thought President Bush was a compassionate person, I was wrong. Sincerely, Justin Mattes, Woodcliff Lake