Ron Wyden: “I want to ask him one question about the very helpful punitive damages agreement he negotiated with us last night. My…”

“I want to ask him one question about the very helpful punitive damages agreement he negotiated with us last night. My understanding is, this agreement tracks very closely with what the Clinton administration has agreed to in the past with respect to product liability. In fact, our agreement seems to be more generous to plaintiffs than what the administration has agreed to in the past. In the past, they seemed to have said we ought to look at something that would have two times compensatory damages. This legislation has three times the damages, to make sure there is a fair shake for the consumer. Is that the understanding of the Senator from Connecticut? I ask because he has been involved in this issue involving punitive damage questions for quite some time. I think he has been very fair to plaintiffs in this area. It seems to me, actually, the Senator has gone beyond what has been talked about in various other discussions that we had.”