[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2202-2203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PASSAGE OF THE CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to thank my colleagues for 
supporting S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act, which we passed last 
week and which is set to be considered in the House this week. This 
little bill that Senator Kohl and I first introduced back in the 105th 
Congress is finally at the finish line. Little did I know it was going 
to take five Congresses to get it done. But we had to do it. The abuses 
in the class action system are real, and this is a good first step at 
fixing some of them.
  Although the Class Action Fairness Act was always a bipartisan bill, 
we had to negotiate numerous compromises to garner enough support to 
defeat a filibuster here in the Senate. In the end, this bill is a good 
example of what we can accomplish when we work together in a bipartisan 
fashion. The final passage vote of 72 to 36 is proof positive of that.
  So I am pleased that we are on the verge of getting class action 
reform to the President's desk. There are many colleagues that I would 
like to thank in the Senate for their leadership and support--Majority 
Leader Frist, Republican Whip McConnell, Chairman Specter, Senator 
Hatch, Senator Sessions, Senator Kohl, and Senator Carper. I also want 
to thank their staff as well for a job well done--Allen Hicks, Eric 
Ueland and Sharon Soderstrom with the majority leader; John Abegg and 
Kyle Simmons with Senator McConnell; Harold Kim, Michael O'Neill and 
David Brog with Chairman Specter; Kevin O'Scanlin with Senator Hatch; 
William Smith and Cindy Hayden with Senator Sessions; and John 
Kilvington with Senator Carper. I would like to acknowledge in 
particular Jeff Miller with Senator Kohl, who worked closely with my 
staff on this bill over the years. Finally, I would like to thank Rita 
Lari Jochum, my Judiciary Committee chief counsel, who has worked on 
this bill since 1998, and whose legal skills and determination were 
instrumental in getting this bill passed in the Senate.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I regret that I was unable to vote on 
final passage of S. 5. I was traveling with President Bush in 
Pennsylvania.
  I wish to express my support of the Senate passage of S. 5, the Class 
Action Fairness Act. As a cosponsor of this legislation, I am pleased 
that the Senate passed a bill that will help prevent the serious 
problem of class action abuse.
  The Class Action Fairness Act is a modest bipartisan bill that 
addresses some of the most serious abuses by allowing more large 
interstate class actions to be heard in Federal court, and by 
implementing a ``Consumer Class Action Bill of Rights'' to protect 
consumers.
  S. 5 will expand Federal jurisdiction over large, interstate class 
actions. Since the founding of this country, Federal diversity 
jurisdiction has existed over cases between citizens of different 
States involving large amounts of money. However, because of the way 
that some have interpreted the law, class action cases involving 
parties from many states and millions of dollars largely have been 
excluded from this rule and are confined to State court. The Class 
Action Fairness Act closes this loophole by creating Federal 
jurisdiction over large multi-State class actions.
  I ask that the Record reflect that, had I been here, I would have 
voted in favor of S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act. In passing this 
legislation in the Senate, we have taken a constructive step in 
addressing the abuses in the civil justice system while maintaining the 
rights of consumers.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the Class Action 
Fairness Act of 2005. As both a lawyer and a citizen, I am a strong 
believer in class actions as a way for ordinary people who have been 
wronged by a corporation to band together and seek justice. Some of our 
great advances in civil rights and consumer protections have come from 
these actions.
  But there is overwhelming evidence that there are abuses in the class 
action system that should be addressed. When multimillion dollar 
settlements are handed down and all the victims get are coupons for a 
free product, justice is not being served. And when cases are tried in 
counties only because it's known that those judges will award big 
payoffs, you get quick settlements

[[Page 2203]]

without ever finding out who's right and who's wrong.
  Every American deserves their day in court. This bill, while not 
perfect, gives people that day while still providing the reasonable 
reforms necessary to safeguard against the most blatant abuses of the 
system. I also hope that the Federal judiciary takes seriously their 
expanded role in class action litigation, and upholds their 
responsibility to fairly certify class actions so that they may protect 
our civil and consumer rights. Senator Specter has pledged to work on 
these issues and address these serious concerns in the future, and I 
look forward to joining him so we can improve this law.

                          ____________________