Pete Sessions: “this country is facing an unusual and very dangerous legal situation. I understand and appreciate the details given by…”

“this country is facing an unusual and very dangerous legal situation. I understand and appreciate the details given by the Senators as they have debated the nature of contracts and damages and economic loss rule and negligence as compared to contract law. It is pretty complex. Historically, we have created rules under which to file. For contracts, you have burden of proof. If you file under tort, you have another standard you have to prove. All of those are complex, and we ought to be openminded to make sure we are proceeding in a way so as to create a statute that is effective and will achieve what we want. It is time for us to face up to the fact that we do need some change in this Y2K computer problem. Our Nation is facing a real challenge. We could end up with massive litigation in every single county in America: lawyers on both sides filing lawsuits arguing over how much business was lost in this grocery store, how much this bank lost; arguing over punitive damages, standards of proof; the computer companies situated in one State are having to defend themselves against 50 separate State laws; sometimes individual judges within individual States, if they do not have guidance, may rule differently than one expects them to rule.”