On the recordSeptember 7, 2016
I oppose this amendment. The amendment would exempt settlement agreements pertaining to the protection of Americans' privacy, but nothing in the underlying bill prevents victims of a privacy invasion from obtaining relief. The Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016 explicitly permits remedial payments to third-party victims who are directly and proximately harmed by the defendant's wrongdoing, nor does the bill preclude wider conduct remedies used in privacy cases. Nothing in the bill bars DOJ from requiring a defendant to implement measures to strengthen privacy. The ban on third-party payments merely ensures that the defendant remains responsible for performing these privacy-strengthening tasks and is not forced to outsource set sums for the work to third parties who might be friendly with a given administration. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
