[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14256-14257]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CLASS ACTION REFORM GOOD FOR FAMILIES

  (Mr. DeLAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, this week we will be taking up another bill 
that will directly benefit working families: the Class Action Fairness 
Act of 2003. And as we know, the class action process was designed to 
help consumers with similar troubles pool their resources for legal 
assistance and streamline what might otherwise be thousands, even 
millions, of separate claims.
  But in the last 10 years, class action filings have risen 1,000 
percent. For all their apparent popularity, one would think class 
action suits have suddenly become more beneficial to consumers, but the 
evidence suggests in that time the class action system has been abused 
more often than ever. A suit against the Bank of Boston, for instance, 
yielded just $8.64 cents for every plaintiff, but cost $90 each in 
lawyers' bills.
  A class action against Blockbuster Video racked up more than $9 
million in legal fees, but yielded plaintiffs a mere $1 off coupon for 
future rental at Blockbuster.
  Class actions have become more popular, but not because they have 
suddenly started benefitting consumers more. After all, under the 
current system, the suits get bogged down in State courts where the 
settlements are

[[Page 14257]]

often not equally distributed among members of the class. Meanwhile, 
the cost of all this litigation is being passed on by companies to the 
American consumer. The courts, the companies, and the consumers are not 
benefitting them.
  But who is? Who else? The trial lawyers. The American people get the 
joke, Mr. Speaker. No matter who loses in class action suits, the 
winners are always the same: The trial lawyers. Even if their clients 
do not get any money or are not being paid, the lawyers always seem to 
be paid.
  So the reforms we will take up this week will streamline the class 
action system and provide for new consumer protection against abusive 
lawsuits. This Republican majority is committed to meeting the needs of 
the American people and reining in the excesses of our litigious trial 
lawyer community.
  So I look forward to the debate on this bill, Mr. Speaker, to see if 
the same can be said of their friends on the other side of the aisle.

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