Political Quotes

“I am honored to follow my colleague from Minnesota, who has made many of the same arguments very eloquently that my colleagues have made as we approach a vote literally in the dead of night. There is a reason for the timing of this vote. My Republican colleagues would much rather have it done past the deadline for the newspapers, out of the public eye, because most Americans would be repulsed by the idea that they are losing fundamental rights, and what could be more fundamental than the right to go to court. That is the right that will be lost to countless Americans if this vote in favor of S. J. Res. 47 succeeds tonight. It would literally repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's arbitration rule using the Congressional Review Act. Most Americans will discover this repugnant step when they go to their lawyer's office, and they state their grievance, their harm, their cause of action, and their lawyer looks at a contract or some other piece of paper, which has in fine print a forced arbitration clause. That forced arbitration clause, in effect, blocks the courthouse door. It denies them their day in court. It compels them to go before a group of people--often, the majority selected by the big company they want to sue. At best, the result is to give them less to remedy the wrong against them than they suffered in harm. Often, the lawyer will say: You know, this effort is going to cost you more than you will gain.…”