Rob Andrews: “I say to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) who said that any Member here who does not support the working…”

“I say to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) who said that any Member here who does not support the working families who run small businesses should be ashamed of themselves, the gentleman is right. We all should support such individuals, and that is what the law does now. The law says if someone owns a business and OSHA brings a specious or frivolous claim, that they can recover their attorney's fees now. That is the law. What this bill does is go far beyond the law, and it says to OSHA, if you are not sure you are going to win the case, you better not bring it. If you are not certain you are going to win the case, you are going to have to pay the attorney's fees of the person you are suing. So if I were the person running OSHA, Mr. Speaker, and my personnel came to me and said there is a claim we want to file against a company that digs trenches that are sometimes unsafe and there was a collapse of a trench last year and a guy died, I would ask them, Are you sure you are going to win the case? And if they are competent and honest attorneys, their answer would be we are not sure because it may be the defense that the trench was constructed properly, or it may be a defense that the worker acted in a fashion that contributed to the accident, or there may be some other defense. The law today says if OSHA brings a frivolous and unsubstantiated claim and loses, then OSHA must pay the counsel fees of the company that they sue.”