Political Quotes

“I certainly subscribe both to what he said and what the Senator from Washington has previously said about this. My conversation, Mr. President, this morning, has to do with a very specific amendment which we will be voting on, the Kyl-McCain amendment, which will have the effect of striking section 103 of H.R. 956. This amendment preserves State law on alternative dispute resolution procedures and ensures the plaintiffs and defendants are treated equally through the ADR, or alternative dispute resolution process. The amendment strikes section 103, which says when alternative dispute resolution procedures are employed, these procedures are enforceable only against the defendant, not against the plaintiff. Currently, of course, under the State laws under which this would be applied, ADR provisions are equally applicable to the plaintiffs and to the defendants. Of course, it should remain that way. Mr. President, a fundamental tenet of American jurisprudence is that all parties go into court with equal rights. As a matter of fact, Americans, I submit, would not submit their disputes, their lives, and their fortunes to a decision by the judge or a jury if they knew that the deck was stacked against them when they began.”