Political Quotes

“I want to update everybody as to where we are with respect to the Class Action Fairness Act. From the many statements over the course of today and last night, it is clear that this bill is important to the American people, and it is important to the economy. It is a bill about equity and it is a bill about fairness. Earlier today, I attempted to reach an agreement that would allow an orderly process to consider the bill. The agreement respected Members' rights to offer amendments, but also represented a commitment to focus on the issue--class action reform--and eventually proceed toward a final agreement with the House through the regular conference process. The important point is at the end of the day--and this is where we stand tonight--by the end of this week we need to pass this bill and do what is right for the American people to create a public law. Unfortunately, we were unable to get this agreement. There was an offer from the other side which did not necessarily allow completion of this measure, and that offer included five nongermane amendments, the subject matter of these amendments simply being unknown. These nongermane amendments are totally unrelated to class action reform.”