Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, this bill which has come before our committee is one that the President has said he will veto because the President says that it is a ``solution that is looking for a problem'' or something to that effect. This bill will make it more difficult for plaintiffs--people who have been harmed--to get relief because their cases in State courts can more easily be removed to Federal courts. Now, the gentleman from Virginia is exactly right in that it has always been permitted. You can remove a case to Federal court if you can show that the plaintiff in the State court is not a proper plaintiff, if you can show that there is diversity of citizenship and not complete diversity. The problem is that this has always been the rule, and it is the way the rule is now; but the courts have not come to us and said this is a problem and have asked us to correct it. We are correcting this because the corporate defendants want to make it easier for them to remove these cases to courts at which they will get better results. It will make it more difficult for plaintiffs to get judgments in State courts, which have historically been a bit healthier. This makes it almost impossible. It increases litigation. It makes you, on the front end, have to show your case. It increases the cost to the courts and the burden on the courts. It will make the government larger because there will be more activity in Federal court if this becomes law.…”