Jay Rockefeller: “not only do I agree with everything that my able colleague from the State of Washington has said, the Harkin amendment…”

“not only do I agree with everything that my able colleague from the State of Washington has said, the Harkin amendment adds a new section to the bill for setting punitive damages against businesses with 25 or more employees. It has to be greater than the amount recorded or using a formula laid out in the compromise bill which is twice compensatory damages or $250,000, whichever is greater, or twice the value of annual compensation of the business' chief executive officer. Well, that last one obviously is an eye-catcher, ear-catcher. It sounds innocent enough--and fun. It is kind of fun, cute. But we are on a deadly serious bill. The people who voted today to make sure that we would continue to discuss and amend product liability reform were not trying to have fun with this. We have been on this bill for several weeks now. I have been doing this for 9 years. I am sure the Senator from the State of Washington has been doing it for longer than that. There is nothing in any of my efforts to sort of do something to amuse myself, enjoy myself. I am trying to make America better. I am trying to help defendants who cannot get their claims in time. I am helping to make things more predictable for businesses so we can strike a balance between consumers and business. One thing this is not is just kind of fun.…”