Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment that will prevent the abuse of Justice Department settlements to line the pockets of environmental lawyers.
The Gosar amendment caps settlement payments for attorneys' fees provided in relation to environmental cases at $125 per hour. The Equal Access to Justice Act, EAJA, already contains a fee cap of $125 per hour for attorney fees. Unfortunately, EAJA also contains a loophole that allows specialized attorneys to violate that cap without explicitly defining who meets this standard. The result has been the rampant abuse of this loophole by environmental groups who routinely argue that their lawyers are specialized and can therefore violate the cap. Furthermore, the Endangered Species Act does not contain this cap.
As a report by the Congressional Working Group on the Endangered Species Act explains: ``The effect is large, deep-pocketed environmental groups with annual revenues well over $100 million are reaping taxpayer reimbursements from a law intended for the `little guy.'
``These groups--and their lawyers--are making millions of taxpayer dollars by suing the Federal Government, being deemed the `prevailing party' by Federal courts, and being awarded fees either through settlement with DOJ or by courts.
``According to the documents provided by DOJ, some attorneys representing nongovernmental entities have been reimbursed at rates as much as $500 per hour, and at least two lawyers have each received over $2 million in attorneys' fees from filing ESA cases.''
Perhaps most egregious, many of these lawsuits are not even litigated. These attorneys are raking in these ridiculously high fees by filing and settling. This has massively incentivized the ``sue and settle'' tactics that have become all too common in these types of cases.
Again, U.S. Code section 504, subsection (b)(1) already caps attorney fees at $125 per hour. My amendment simply closes the loophole that environmental groups use to violate this cap and charge inordinate attorney fees at taxpayer expense.
Similar legislation has been introduced in the past, including the Endangered Species Litigation Reasonableness Act, introduced by Representative Huizenga. As Representative Huizenga accurately stated in April of 2015: ``The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to enhance wildlife preservation, not line the pockets of trial attorneys with taxpayer dollars. Every taxpayer dollar spent on litigation is a dollar that could have been spent protecting the environment.''
This amendment is endorsed by the Americans for Limited Government, the American Conservative Union, Family Farm Alliance, the Motorcycle Industry Council, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Arizona Farm Bureau.
I commend the chairman and the committee for their efforts on this legislation and for recognizing that the settlement process is in desperate need of reform.
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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I would like to agree with the chairman on his analysis of the Equal Access to Justice Act. It has been abused. As I mentioned before, environmental groups with well over $100 million in annual revenues are using the law intended to protect the little guy to siphon money from the American taxpayers. That is why my amendment is so important. By closing this loophole, we can uphold the intent of the law and ensure its continued efficacy.
Furthermore, line 15 of the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act contains a carve-out for environmental litigation. My amendment is, therefore, both germane and critical to preventing attorneys in these environmental lawsuits from using the currently existing loophole to charge upwards of $500 per hour for their service.
As my colleague Representative Huizenga has perviously pointed out, every dollar spent on litigation is a dollar that cannot go to protecting or restoring the environment.
I also want to make clear that my amendment does nothing to prohibit groups from engaging in litigation or to prohibit repayments for their legal fees. The $125 cap already exists in current law. My amendment simply closes the loophole that environmental groups have used to exceed that cap.
Once again, I would like to thank my colleagues for their efforts on this important issue. I encourage the passage of the Gosar amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
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