Russ Feingold: “I rise to briefly discuss one of the more interesting--and most distressing--components of S. 565, the so-called Product…”

“I rise to briefly discuss one of the more interesting--and most distressing--components of S. 565, the so-called Product Liability Fairness Act. That, Mr. President, is the conscious and flagrant expropriation of the rights of the State and local governments to fashion their own civil justice systems. Over and over in the early months of the 104th Congress we have heard the distinguished majority leader announce his intent to "dust off the 10th amendment". That amendment, part of the Bill of Rights and sometimes thought of as the forgotten child of the Bill of Rights, states that: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Well, here is a power that has been reserved by the States for over 200 years. And I cannot help but note the hypocrisy present here. We have heard the thunderous voices of States rights advocates, railing against Washington bureaucrats and proclaiming that this new Congress is committed to the proposition of shifting control of policies from Washington back to the States. But then many of the same advocates of States rights also support legislation such as this that is designed to seize control over a policy area that has been the domain of the States since our Nation's founding and turn it over to 535 Members of the Congress.”