Haley Stevens: “I would like to thank my southern neighbor, Senator Gorton from Washington, for agreeing to clarify a few points about…”

“I would like to thank my southern neighbor, Senator Gorton from Washington, for agreeing to clarify a few points about S. 565, the Product Liability Fairness Act. I also want to thank Senator Gorton's staff for their willingness to work out some of the finer points of this legislation. Section 102(c) of S. 565 lists a number of laws that are not superseded or affected by the act. My first question seeks to clarify the language in section 102(c)(2). Section 102(c)(2) provides: ``Nothing in this title may be construed to * * * (2) supersede or alter any Federal law;'' The committee report at page 28, footnote 101, gives examples of Federal statutes that are not superseded by S. 565. The examples in the committee report include the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act. My question to my friend is whether the language ``any Federal law'' in section 102(c) also includes Federal common law. I assume that it does and, therefore, that S. 565 does not supersede any Federal statutory or common law, such as admiralty law.”