Dick Durbin: “I thank the Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, for explaining the situation. Perhaps I am mistaken or maybe even naive…”

“I thank the Democratic leader, Senator Daschle, for explaining the situation. Perhaps I am mistaken or maybe even naive, but it strikes me that the business of the Senate is to debate and amend and consider important legislation. When we reach a point where there is an effort to stop the process, to stop the debate, or to stop an amendment, it is pretty clear the underlying bill is not likely to pass. I don't understand Senator Frist's strategy, but I leave it to him to explain. I would like to speak for a moment to the merits of the bill before us. It has a title anyone would fall in love with, 'Class Action Fairness Act of 2004.' Probably most people following this debate wonder why we are debating it and what it means. If you ask people if they are a member of a class, they will say: Not since I graduated from school, unless you mean the middle class. But this is different. These are lawsuits that are brought by more than one individual in a particular complaint against a certain company, for example. It might be all the people who did business with a certain company who believe that they have been wronged, that they are entitled to some sort of compensation. It might be all the people living in a community who have been victimized by the pollution of air or water by a certain company.…”