Bill Delahunt: “well, here we go again. We have a bill before us now that would sweep aside generations of State laws that protect…”

“well, here we go again. We have a bill before us now that would sweep aside generations of State laws that protect consumers so that corporations can evade their responsibilities for wrongs that they commit. Forget about States' rights. Federalism as a core Democratic principle is withering away in this institution, and this proposal is an example of that. Earlier today, the Committee on the Judiciary was to consider a proposal which would shift to the Federal courts local zoning issues. And those that speak and preach States' rights and de-evolution I suggest should revisit their words. Let me join with others who have stressed that we are not talking about small businesses here. I mean, if we read the bill, that simply is inaccurate. It is absurd in fact. There are no revenue caps in this legislation. The bill would permit large, prosperous businesses making enormous profits to escape liability so long as they maintain a small employee base. A corporation could have millions of dollars of revenue, tens of millions of dollars in revenue, hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and they could evade their responsibility under the parameters of this bill. But, of course, while the bill does not put caps on revenues of profits, it does cap punitive damages, punitive damages that would apply to conduct that is so egregious it would border on the criminal.…”