[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ENDING FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS

  (Mr. CARTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, as a State district judge for over 20 years 
in Texas, I presided over my fair share of frivolous lawsuits. I have 
seen firsthand the effect they have on small businesses and families.
  The current tort system is costing Americans over $200 million a 
year. Small businesses rank the cost and availability of liability 
insurance as second only to the cost of health care as their top 
priority. Both problems are fueled by frivolous lawsuits.
  Frivolous lawsuits make small businesses and workers suffer. This 
year the Nation's oldest ladder manufacturer, family-owned John S. 
Tilley Ladders Company of New York, filed for bankruptcy protection and 
sold off most of its assets due to litigation costs.
  Founded in 1855, the Tilley firm could not handle the cost of 
liability insurance, which had risen from 6 percent of sales a decade 
ago to 29 percent, even though the company never lost an actual court 
judgment. ``We could see the handwriting on the wall and just want to 
end this whole thing,'' said Robert Howland, a descendant of the 
founder, John Tilley.
  Mr. Speaker, let us put an end to frivolous lawsuits that are ruining 
the American Dream.

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