Sheila Jackson Lee: “I think most of all that we have had a vigorous discussion on behalf of the American people. I hope they are listening.…”

“I think most of all that we have had a vigorous discussion on behalf of the American people. I hope they are listening. I hope my colleagues are listening because, as I listened to the debate myself, I heard a continuing theme: Let's bash the plaintiffs and those seeking justice and make sure we make our friends who want to eliminate costs, eliminate the road to justice, provide them with an opportunity to reconfigure the road that has the Lady Justice balanced scales as a symbol of this system. When I heard my colleague from Texas, a good friend, talk about costs and making sure that the individuals in the class are spread out so that they are limited in the ability to press their case, I got the answer. Again, I say that a one-way street to justice is unacceptable. There are too many people who died that I cannot stand on this floor and deny those who are sick and ailing or those who had in the 1950s thalidomide where babies were born with malformations because women took medicine that had not been tested. The Jackson Lee amendment would provide a balanced approach to the bill's disclosure requirements by applying transparency rules in the bill equally to the asbestos industry defendants.…”