mr. speaker , a lot has been said about the details of this case .  i just want to say a word about the process , because we should honor and respect the rule of law , and laws should be applied equally to all .  this is a special bill , special treatment to just one case .  this bill does not grant a federal right of review to cases like this .  this bill applies just to this one case .  the majority in congress apparently has already decided the proper outcome of the case , a decision different from the next of kin and state court judges who have heard evidence from both sides .  present law has a process to ascertain whether or not a patient is in a persistent vegetative state , and it should not matter what politicians think .  there is a process .  but this case will be given special treatment because members of congress have made a different diagnosis .  present law also places the decisions in the hands of the next of kin , the husband .  but congress apparently does not agree with the next of kin ; and this bill , therefore , gives special legal standing to other relatives .  this is not the only recent example of special treatment .  a few years ago , a child custody case in the washington , d.c .  area was decided by special legislative language in a transportation appropriations bill .  the committee on education and the workforce considering a case on appeal between the department of labor and a bank retroactively changed the law to fix the result on behalf of the bank .  the house passed legislation to fix a result in firearms liability legislation so that the national rifle association got to try the issue in the legislative branch after they had made contributions to legislators who will decide the result , rather than being relegated to the impartial judge and jury where ordinary citizens have to try their cases .  mr. speaker , we should honor the rule of law and apply that law in all cases .  there are cases like this all over the country , but this bill applies only to this case because the relatives were able to get the attention of the united states congress .  if congress wants to establish a federal right of review in cases like this , a new rule of law , so be it ; but that law should apply to all whether or not they have a member of congress to introduce a special bill .  let us honor and respect the rule of law to be applied equally to all and reject this legislation .  