Melvin Watt: “Mr. Chairman, my amendment deals solely with title II, the products liability part of the bill, a part of the bill which…”

“Mr. Chairman, my amendment deals solely with title II, the products liability part of the bill, a part of the bill which I would point out to my colleagues has no limitation to small businesses and is a complete usurpation of State law on products liability. It preempts all State law in this area to the extent that State laws are inconsistent with title II. I would point out to my colleagues that this is absolutely contrary to everything that my Republican colleagues say that they stand for. They tell us day after day after day that they believe in States' rights; they believe in moving government closer to the people, sending it back to the local level. This runs absolutely counter to that stated proposition. They have had to go out of their way to justify doing it, and I want to read specifically how they have done it. They have said products liability cases fall under the commerce clause of the United States.”