Lincoln Chafee: “let me offer a few thoughts on why I believe the amendment authored by my good friend from New Hampshire, Senator Gregg…”

“let me offer a few thoughts on why I believe the amendment authored by my good friend from New Hampshire, Senator Gregg, should be rejected. Senators Tom Harkin, Bob Graham and I struggled with the liability issue when we were developing our own antitobacco bill, the so-called KIDS Act. We began our deliberations with a review of the global settlement that was reached by the 40 attorneys general from the various States. In summary, we concluded that we could not support some of the provisions of that legislation; namely, the prohibition on class action suits. The attorneys general agreed that no class action suits would be permitted and there would be a ban on punitive damages against the industry. That is what the industry got out of the negotiation with the attorneys general, amongst other things. Given the tobacco industry's behavior, how could we, the three of us working on that legislation, possibly accede to tort protections that would nullify entire categories of lawsuits, leaving injured parties high and dry? But there were balancing factors which also had to be weighed, Mr. President. The industry's consent is terribly important to the implementation of a comprehensive national tobacco policy. It is far better to have the industry at the table and agreeing. Certainly, endless litigation serves no one's interests but the lawyers. Thus, something had to be done to create a more certain environment, both for the plaintiffs and for the tobacco companies.”