Political Quotes

“But I would like to just bring up one thing. The proponents of the bill are saying this is tort reform. And how could this be tort reform when the National Association of Manufacturers are on the other side, oppose it? It is not really tort reform. It is an all-out assault upon awarding reasonable damages to the inventor. That is done in two ways. One is through extreme limitation of damages, and the second is finding a way to lengthen the process of litigation. Now, another portion of this bill says, well, you shouldn't be able to shop for venue. And in America it has always been the tradition that you can bring a suit in any area, any county, any State where damage has occurred, and with a widely distributed product, you should be able to bring a lawsuit really wherever you want. And now, of course, the proposed reform says, well, you can't bring it in certain areas unless you have a certain nexus. Here's the problem: If you bring this in Chicago, the little guy, it's 5 years. If you bring it in Washington, D.C.'s ``rocket docket,'' it's called, you get it there in 1 year. Well, who is to gain by taking litigation and lengthening the time of it? It's the big guys versus the small guys.”