Duncan Faircloth: “I am shocked that the Senate rejected two prior attempts to limit these attorneys' fees, and I am amazed that we are…”

“I am shocked that the Senate rejected two prior attempts to limit these attorneys' fees, and I am amazed that we are here to debate whether a four thousand dollar per hour cap is enough for the trial lawyers. Over the past few days, a number of constituents asked me how we could possibly condone paying these lawyers more than 250 dollars per hour, which was the rate in my original amendment. Where I come from, Mr. President, 250 dollars is an incredible amount of money. That is a weekly wage for a lot of working people. These are the same working people, I might add, whose taxes we are raising to pay these lawyers' fees. This bill is an unparalleled transfer of wealth from the poor to the super-rich. My constituents were upset about 250 dollar per hour and 1000 per hour payments to lawyers, but I explained that the Texas lawyers expect to make ninety-two thousand dollars per hour, and my constituents enthusiastically agreed that these caps were better than ninety-two thousand dollars per hour. The Texas lawyers have already been paid ninety million dollars and expect more than two-point-two billion dollars more. In fact, the Attorney General of Texas is so intent on paying them their two-point-three billion dollars in fees that he filed a lawsuit against the Governor because the Governor tried to intervene on behalf of the taxpayers who will foot the bill.”