Byron Dorgan: “the amendment which I have offered is not identical but nearly identical to the amendment I offered prior to cloture.…”

“the amendment which I have offered is not identical but nearly identical to the amendment I offered prior to cloture. The amendment deals with the punitive damage cap. The amendment I offered previously I offered to the Dole substitute. I now offer this amendment to the underlying bill. Very simply, my amendment would remove the cap on punitive damages that exists in the bill. The amendment that I offered previously was defeated by a vote of 51 to 49. I would like for the Senate to express itself on that issue in light of the activities on this legislation since the Senate voted on it. While I think there is merit in a product liability reform bill and while I think there is merit on both sides of this issue, I believe the legislation should be like the legislation on product liability we considered last year. That legislation came to the floor of the Senate and was voted on with respect to the last cloture vote without any cap on punitive damages. Last year, the bill that originated in the Commerce Committee and brought to the floor, did not include a cap on punitive damages. This year, the legislation, as it emerged in the Commerce Committee by the same authors, included a cap on punitive damages. I believe they were right last year and wrong this year on that particular section of the bill.”