Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We obviously have a different vantage point on what is taking place in the civil courtrooms of America today. On our side, we look out over America and in the courts and we see millions of our neighbors, our fellow citizens who are suffering the effects of asbestos poisoning, which is real, not imaginary; lead poisoning, which is real, not imaginary; and manufacturing defects by large automobile manufacturers and others. They look at it and all they see is fraud, and they want to put the class action mechanism in a straightjacket to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for people to pursue class actions. They want to put the names of asbestos victims up online for the whole world to see. Obviously, we have got a division of opinion within the legislative branch. What about the judiciary itself? Well, the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking arm of the Federal judiciary, and the American Bar Association both strongly oppose H.R. 985. The conference report that has been studying class actions for 5 years has considered many of the issues addressed in H.R. 985. It strongly urges Congress not to amend the class action procedures found in rule 23 outside the Rules Enabling Act process. {time} 1630 Likewise, the ABA observes the many problems of advancing comprehensive class action reform without a hearing to examine all the complicated issues involved with so many rule changes. Mr.…”