Sponsors Press Class Action Reform Bill Passage

NU Online News Service, July 7, 4:26 p.m. EDT,Washington?Sponsors of a bill designed to reform the classaction litigation system?a top priority of the insuranceindustry?called for its swift passage Wednesday in a Capitol Hillpress conference.

As the Senate prepares to again debate the legislation, Sens.Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., and Thomas Carper,D-Del., called on their fellow lawmakers to avoid letting abrouhaha over potential amendments to the bill halt its progress.At the press conference, the senators were flanked by three allegedvictims of class action lawsuit abuses.

The senators met with reporters amidst concerns that too manyamendments will sink the legislation. Senate Majority Leader BillFrist, R-Tenn., has sparred with Democrats over the possibility ofnon-germane amendments being added to the bill.

He noted that the debate over such amendments during the"abbreviated" remaining time on the congressional calendar wouldeffectively doom its chances for passage.

The Democrats have asked Sen. Frist to ensure a "fair andreasonable debate" on potential amendments, but he has held to ahard line on limiting the number allowed.

"The one sure way to kill this bill is to attempt to close offdebate" on amendments, Sen. Carper said at the press conference,adding that the measure's Democratic supporters "will not allow thedebate to go on endlessly."

Sen. Kohl also questioned Sen. Frist's hard-line stance, sayingthat if the majority leader would allow for only one non-germaneamendment to the bill, then it might lose the support it needs forcloture on the bill, thus exposing it to a potentialfilibuster.

"Why would he throw down the gauntlet in that manner, knowingthat it would likely bring down the bill?" Mr. Kohl asked.

Sen. Grassley countered that Sen. Frist's view was a politicalneed, and if Democrats were allowed to introduce a non-germaneamendment then Republicans would also demand to be allowed one, andthat two amendments for Democrats would lead to a total of four andso forth.

Both the Democratic sponsors and Sen. Grassley said theyunderstand the opposing side's view, and Sen. Grassley noted thatthe press conference featured "three senators that don't want toplay political games."

"I just hope goodwill will prevail and we'll move on," hesaid.

The timing of the bill also came into question, with it movingto the floor just as Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., a trial lawyer bytrade, was named as the vice presidential nominee for theDemocratic party. Sen. Kohl said it was a "coincidence," advisingthat, "the dominoes just happened to fall that way."

Sen. Kohl said Sen. Edwards as a lawyer would be unaffected bythe attempts to curb abuses in the system, saying that "no personin their right mind," would suggest that Sen. Edwards was the typeof lawyer the bill was designed to combat.

Sen. Grassley expressed confidence that, outside of the debateon non-germane amendments, the measure would pass the Senate. Ongermane amendments, he said, "we've got a bipartisan group thatwould stop that from happening."

He also countered the arguments made by those opposing the billthat it limits the rights of consumers to have their day in court,saying that such changes to the law have to be made to ensure thatthe system is not abused, applying the same argument to othersubjects that have been stymied in the Senate.

"I think we make very good cases for asbestos, class actions andmedical liability," he said.