Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, we have seen a number of bills this session which are designed to shut the door on victims of corporate misfeasance and negligence and to nail the door shut. H.R. 725 is part of this wave of legislation. Like most other bills we have seen this session with brazenly Orwellian titles, the so-called Innocent Party Protection Act of 2017 has nothing to do with protecting innocent parties. Rather, it is just the latest attempt to tilt the civil justice system dramatically in favor of big corporate defendants by making it much more difficult for plaintiffs to pursue State law claims in State courts under the system of federalism designed by our Founders. Again, this is a familiar experience because the bill addresses a completely nonexistent problem. If there had been a real problem, the Judiciary Committee might have held a hearing in which we could have invited groups to come forward who support tort victims. They could have come and testified about why it was so important for the interests of civil justice for us to pass this legislation. But there was no hearing at all. We didn't hear any witnesses, much less the testimony of those groups that represent victims of mass toxic torts, asbestos poisoning, lead poisoning, sex discrimination lawsuits--none of it.…”