mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume , following which i will yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from michigan . 
mr. speaker , this bill , the personal responsibility in food consumption act , h.r. 554 , is all about , again , personal responsibility and to point out how ludicrous it would be if we allowed personal injury lawsuits against the food industry or any other company that makes a legitimate product . 
we just talked earlier in the afternoon , mr. speaker , in regard to gun manufacturers . 
mr. speaker , let me just give an example , if i might . 
this is a belt , an alligator belt . 
in fact , it is my belt . 
size 36 . 
i have a size 36 waist . 
this belt , i am proud to say , is hand-finished , american alligator , produced right here in the good old u.s.a . 
this alligator skin was obtained from a louisiana hunt , it says on this belt , 1993 , manufactured by the trafalgar limited belt company , a good company . 
and the belt has served me very well . 
size 36 fits me well . 
mr. speaker , let us suppose now that i decided , it is unlikely that i would do this , but let us suppose i decided i wanted to wear a size 42 and i punched a few extra holes in this belt , which is a size 36 , so i could wear it and buckle it with a size 42 pair of trousers . 
these trousers fell right to my knees in a public place . 
i do not think i should have the right to sue the belt company because i used its product in a manner that it was not designed to use . 
i could go out and buy myself a size 42 belt . 
let me give another example , and this is more likely . 
let us suppose i really felt like my waist was a size 34 , and so i cinched this belt up really good so i could proudly say i am not a 36 , i have a 34 inch waist at my age . 
i would feel pretty good about myself . 
but , unfortunately , mr. speaker , there is a nerve at my waist called the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve . 
if someone puts too much pressure around their waist by wearing a belt inappropriately , by cinching it up too tightly , they put compression on that nerve , that lateral femoral cutaneous nerve , and i speak from knowledge on this from 30 years as a practicing physician . 
that condition , my colleagues can look it up , but i will share it with them , it is called meralgia paresthetica . 
if members do not believe me , look it up . 
it creates tremendous numbness and loss of feeling in the anterior part of the thigh . 
let us suppose someone misused this belt and wore it as a size 34 and decided for that reason to sue this trafalgar company , this good , solid american company that makes this belt , for damages . 
that is totally ridiculous and ludicrous , and that is why this bill is so important . 
that is why it is called personal responsibility . 
mr. speaker , i yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from michigan ( mrs. miller ) xz4002761 . 
