Kay Bailey Hutchison: “Mr. President, my amendment attempts to be a compromise between those who wish to take the caps off the attorney's fees…”

“Mr. President, my amendment attempts to be a compromise between those who wish to take the caps off the attorney's fees for suing the District of Columbia School District and what I think is a quite reasonable approach, which is to keep the caps but raise them. For the last 3 years, we have had caps on attorney's fees. That was made necessary because of the exorbitant fees that were being charged to the District, and that was money coming directly out of the education system. In fact, before the caps were put in place, attorney's fees represented $14 million of the DC school budget. Since the caps have been put in place, we have had a figure of $3.5 million per year average for attorney's fees, and the extra $10.5 million has been able to go into the services we are seeking to provide for handicapped and special needs children. Moreover, we have been informed by the District of some of the excessive fees that were being billed before the caps.”