William H. Frist: “Last Thursday, the Senate achieved its first legislative victory, a bipartisan victory of the 109th session. By a vote…”

“Last Thursday, the Senate achieved its first legislative victory, a bipartisan victory of the 109th session. By a vote of 72 to 26, the Senate passed the Class Action Fairness Act. The process was that we worked together across the aisle from beginning to end. The bill was introduced with 32 cosponsors, 24 Republicans and 8 Democrats. It came out of the Judiciary Committee on a strong bipartisan vote. Every vote on every amendment was bipartisan, and the vote on final passage was strongly bipartisan as well. I stress the bipartisanship because in the 109th Congress we have a lot to do, and it is going to demand that we continue to work together in that same spirit. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their fairness and cooperation. We have delivered to the American people a significant victory in the battle for fairness in the courts. The class action bill does protect plaintiffs' rights while reining in the rampant abuse within the system itself. The consumer bill of rights protects plaintiffs from predatory lawyers and guarantees that they receive just compensation. The legislation restores justice to our court system by ending that practice of forum shopping, where we had nationwide cases that genuinely impact interstate commerce being moved to the Federal courts where they belong.”