Howard Berman

Mr. Chairman, section 303 amends the National Security Act of 1947 to add a new section, 901, authorizing the President to stay the imposition of certain sanctions, should the President determine that to proceed without delay would…

It is wrong to use, for instance, this new provision to protect sources and methods as a way of getting around the imposition of sanctions. If the feeling is the particular sanctions law in an area, whether it is chemical, biological…

I do not think we should put artificial restrictions on the ability of the Bell companies to go into long distance, I supported the manager's amendment because it got rid of a test that made it virtually impossible for them to ever enter…

I think we should be clear about one thing. The Western response, our response, to the war in Bosnia represents the greatest failure of the West since the 1930's. It has tarnished NATO; it has tarnished all of us. In the past I have voted…

I would like to develop this more extensively because the way I look at the War Powers Act, it is a law that no President recognizes, no court is willing to enforce, and as you pointed out, in almost every instance the Congress is not…

If you just would yield one more time, but that sort of begs the question. Consulting, we have all kinds of consultations, and all kinds of notifications, the fact is Desert Storm was a carefully planned, date-certain decision to use…

I think there is a good case that the 60-day provision creates a level of uncertainty and can create an expectation in the enemy that doesn't serve U.S. national interests. But you don't need to repeal the War Powers Act to do that. You…

If the gentleman wil continue to yield, I started out thinking that I would vote for the repeal of this act. But if the consequences of repealing the act, if the existence of the act did in fact argue for the President to come to Congress…

I rise to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1923. Today, we are marking the anniversary of a terrible time for the Armenian people, a time of tragic oppression and horrific suffering. April 24, 1915…

this bill unfairly and without precedent ties disaster assistance for California's flood and earthquake victims to cuts in programs for low-income seniors and children. Because of that--in spite of how the Northridge Earthquake pounded my…

Mr. Chairman, if the Gekas amendment were to deal specifically with the problem of double-dipping as the California law is focused on, I would support this amendment. I think in a tort action for negligence, the plaintiff is entitled to be…

I listened to the gentleman from Ohio and I finally got it. New Jersey has a law that provides punitive damages uncapped for suits against sexual predators. They have a standard of ``preponderance of the evidence.'' How can we allow 50…

I disagree, from what I have heard about this case, with the gentleman. The point I would like to make follows up a little bit on the gentleman from Michigan's point. We are getting, sometimes there is a great deal of pressure on the FDA…

the intellectual weakness of the arguments of the proponents is really quite amazing, if you take just a couple of moments to think about it. First, every case they cite talks about the 1-percent negligent party, but the vast majority, I…

No. 1, California's health care premiums did not go down 33 percent over what they would have been. The gentleman is referring to the malpractice premiums paid by physicians, not the health care premiums paid by citizens. Second, this bill…

But what he has not said one word about is why we should be pushing our judgment onto a State in an area of which there is no Federal interest in deciding whether it wants a higher standard or a lower standard.

Mr. Chairman, we are dealing here probably with the only amendment I think on the status of repose. When I saw the language as it came out of the two committees and was reintroduced in this new bill, H.R. 1075, I said, well, this is not a…

I agree. It only applies to title I. It does not apply to title II. There is no ostensible constitutional basis for title II.

This does sound like another clean-hands argument, but in the end, four dirty hands really do not help the process.

The question of the number of amendments that are Democratic and the number of Republican is all nonsense. Address the issue of why you allowed the amendment that was the most extreme and none of the amendments by Republicans or Democrats…

I am curious. First of all, was title II of this bill, the preemption of punitive damages in nonproduct liability cases, part of the Republican contract that you were involved in drafting?

Was the cap in non-product liabilities cases? Because I think the contract was only limited to caps on punitive damages in product liability cases.

Personally I do not find it a bit offensive that the Congress chooses to federalize the whole question of the standards for product liability. I think a very good case can be made for giving the manufacturers uniform rules around the…

the debate which preceded the introduction of the amendment by the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. McHale] discussed the unwillingness of the proponents to have their language meet their rhetoric, to deal with the non-meritorious…

Well, if I may reclaim my time, that is not correct. There are only a few specified statutes, for instance, civil rights cases, where you automatically provide prevailing costs for the plaintiff.