John Kerry: “our laws play an important role in fostering a competitive economic environment by establishing ground rules for fair…”

“our laws play an important role in fostering a competitive economic environment by establishing ground rules for fair competition and by helping to reduce the costs of doing business. But our laws play an even more critical role in protecting the rights of individuals, workers, and consumers. Congress, therefore, has a special responsibility to ensure that the laws we write are reasonable and fair. The conference report on H.R. 956, the so-called Common Sense Product Liability Reform Act of l996, fails the ``reasonable and fair'' test. The conference report, if enacted, will take away the rights U.S. citizens enjoy today in seeking redress for harm caused by unsafe products while giving manufacturers no incentive to produce safer products. This conference report is not fair to the working men and women of this country. It is biased against low-income individuals, women, and the elderly and it is plain dangerous for consumers. The products liability conference report will overturn the laws of every State and, I fear, will do great harm. Consider that every year thousands of workers are injured or killed as a direct result of defects in products they use in the workplace. For many of them, the tort system is the only recourse for full redress of their injuries. Yet, this conference report will make it harder for workers to hold fully accountable those who cause the injury.”