Political Quotes

“I have just read a copy of the Abraham- McConnell-Kyl amendment. I would like to discuss some of the language that I find in here. Basically it says: Notwithstanding any other section of this act, in any civil action whose subject matter affects commerce brought in a Federal or a State court on any theory that liability of each defendant for economic damages shall be several only and shall not be joined. So this is a much broadening of the issue than what was in the underlying product liability bill. It says in any civil action whose subject matter affects commerce--it does not say ``interstate commerce,'' it says ``commerce''--brought under any theory. I want to include that in my discussions with Senator Thompson on what is a civil action. We concluded that any action which is not a criminal action is a civil action. This in effect preempts State law. State laws have many aspects that affect noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages are defined herein as meaning subjective nonmonetary damages resulting from harm, including pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation, and humiliation. That would mean, for example, that all suits that we might be talking about that are nonmonetary, including libel, defamation, slander, etc.…”