Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his ongoing championing of the pledge we take every day: liberty and justice for all.

Mr. Chairman, last year marked the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. Eight hundred years ago, this storied charter first laid out a basic right to justice as the foundation of a fair society.

It was interesting to see in the observance of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta that they brought out 12 chairs to represent where the barons sat to make their case to King John. Those 12 chairs represent a trial by jury, 12 peers. Even under the King, the Magna Carta declared the lawful judgment by his peers. This much was owed the people.

``To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay right or justice.'' We pledge each day not justice for only the powerful and the wealthy, but liberty and justice for all.

You can read what I said and much more about justice and the Magna Carta in the book ``1215: The Year of Magna Carta.'' It is pretty thrilling that 800 years ago, people knew that it was fundamental for the leverage to be with the people and that they had rights. The right to justice is part of the beating heart of America's democracy. It is the sword and shield against plutocracy and tyranny.

Yet, today, with their class action bill, Republicans are trying to weaken that right, taking the justice that belongs to every American and handing it to the privileged few. It is about who has the leverage.

Class actions are an indispensable tool for individuals to hold powerful interests and big corporations accountable for their misdeeds. Without the ability to band together, Americans who have endured grave injuries and egregious wrongs face a David and Goliath struggle for justice.

Without class actions, the wealthy and powerful can divide and conquer their victims, burying families' pleas for fair remedy with the sheer weight of their money and resources. With this bill, Republicans are yet again helping the special interests flatten hardworking Americans.

We see the same goal in play in the Republican provisions attacking asbestos victims that are folded into this bill. As was mentioned by our colleague, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, in her letter, Sue Vento, widow of our esteemed colleague, Bruce Vento, made a plea for them not to include this in this bill, but they did.

These provisions claim to serve transparency. Indeed, the Republicans' effort to protect asbestos companies, intimidate asbestos victims, could not be clearer. They require absolutely no transparency on the part of the asbestos companies. Instead, they invade the privacy of thousands of Americans, many of them veterans and even children in schools.

This isn't about somebody taking a job that has risks. This is about children going to school and being exposed to asbestos and their privacy being invaded.

I am so pleased we will have a motion to recommit to address that later.

It also makes them vulnerable to harm by disclosing personal information in the public domain.

Over and over again, this Republican Congress works to stack the deck for the special interests against hardworking Americans. We see it in campaign finance, where Republicans will drown the voices of the American people in a tidal wave of unlimited special interest spending in our elections and completely resisting any opportunity to disclose. If you like transparency, you should love disclosure of where this money is coming from.

We see it in the assault on labor, where Republicans would dismantle collective bargaining and undermine workers seeking a bigger paycheck, which they have long deserved.

We see it in this bill on class actions, where Republicans would deny justice to millions of Americans. In the courts, in the workplace, in our environment, in our elections, the Republican Congress has strengthened powerful interests and weakened hardworking Americans.

Our Founders pledged their lives, their liberty, their sacred honor, to establish a government of the many, not a government of the money. This is the people's House. Let us stand with the American people in opposing this appalling Republican bill.

With that, I urge a ``no'' vote on the bill.

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