Bobby Scott: “In the bill we have the action of a manufacturer who willingly and knowingly violates a State or Federal statute and can…”

“In the bill we have the action of a manufacturer who willingly and knowingly violates a State or Federal statute and can be sued. You do not have to have a conviction. You have to have a conviction in this situation. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) has revealed a bazaar situation. Some people can bring a case and not bring a case depending upon whether their case was part of a plea bargain or not. This is a major departure from any civil procedure, and if the gentleman can advise us if there is any other civil lawsuit that requires a conviction as a predicate rather than knowingly violated the statute, we would like to hear it. Mr. Chairman, I hope we would adopt the amendment.”