John Spratt: “this amendment is very basic. What it does is it takes blanket immunity which is added to this bill and replaces it with…”

“this amendment is very basic. What it does is it takes blanket immunity which is added to this bill and replaces it with selective indemnity. The bill as it stands would exonerate contractors who provide all kinds of equipment, gear and protective devices, undertaking the most serious sort of responsibility from any liability whatsoever for the products they provide. Any. Just across the board, blanket immunity. Instead it would say let us go back to the model of an old law called Public Law 85-804 and allow on a case-by-case basis, not a priori, but case-by-case indemnification to be provided to these contractors so they would have protection if they were sued in certain cases under certain circumstances. It makes far more sense than to try and sit here in judgment on all kinds of liability situations which we cannot even begin to foresee, much less render final judgment on. 85-804 has been on the books for as long as anyone around here can remember. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation almost went bankrupt in 1971. It was the authority of 85-804, the extraordinary authority of that law that had been carried forward for at least 60 years that allowed us to put Lockheed back on its feet. It is the largest contractor today. That is basically what we are saying here today. Let us use the extraordinary authority given agency heads which has been used sparingly, to negotiate these agreements selectively case by case as opposed to doing this across the board.”