CIS/Index
Copyright © 1999, Congressional Information
Service, Inc.
2000 CIS H 52178
TITLE: Interstate
Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999 and Workplace Goods Job
Growth and Competitiveness Act of 1999
CIS-NO: 2000-H521-78
SOURCE: Committee on the Judiciary. House
DOC-TYPE: Hearing Retrieve
the full text of testimony
DATE: July 21, 1999
LENGTH:
iv+154 p.
CONG-SESS: 106-1
ITEM-NO: 1020-A; 1020-B
SUDOC: Y4.J89/1:106/57
MC-ENTRY-NO: 2000-15895
CIS
DOCUMENT ON DEMAND: 1-800-227-2477 (Full Text Reproductions)
SUMMARY:
Committee Serial No. 57. Hearing to
consider the following bills:
H.R. 1875 (text, p. 2-4),
the Interstate Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999, to grant
Federal district courts jurisdiction over class action lawsuits
in which any plaintiff is a citizen of a State different from that of any of the
defendants. Under current law class action lawsuits may only be
heard in Federal court if none of the plaintiffs is a citizen of the same State
as any of the defendants.
H.R. 2005 (text, p. 4-5), the
Workplace Goods Job Growth and Competitiveness Act of 1999, to establish a
uniform Federal statute of repose for injuries from durable goods used in the
workplace to bar a cause of action against the product
manufacturer after 18 years from the date the product was first delivered for
use.
Supplementary material (p. 14-15, 125-154) includes
submitted statements, correspondence, and:
-- Stateside
Associates, "Class Actions in State Courts: A Report on
Alabama" Feb. 26, 1998 (p. 134-154).
CONTENT-NOTATION:
Class action lawsuits, Fed dist court jurisdiction estab
BILLS: 106
H.R. 1875; 106
H.R. 2005
DESCRIPTORS:
CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS; INTERSTATE
COMMERCE; CONSUMERS; CORPORATIONS; WORKPLACE GOODS JOB GROWTH AND
COMPETITIVENESS ACT; PRODUCT LIABILITY; LAWSUITS; LIMITATION OF
ACTIONS; INDUSTRIAL PLANTS AND EQUIPMENT; INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
AND SAFETY; ALABAMA; STATE COURTS; INTERSTATE CLASS ACTION
JURISDICTION ACT; FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS; JURISDICTION
00-H521-78
TESTIMONY NO: 1 July 21, 1999 p. 18-47
WITNESSES (and witness notations):
ACHESON, ELEANOR D.
(Assistant Attorney General, Office of Policy Development, Department of
Justice)
STATEMENT AND DISCUSSION:
Objections to H.R. 1875 and H.R. 2005; elaboration on
issues relating to bills.
CONTENT NOTATION:
Class action lawsuits, Fed dist court
jurisdiction estab; product liability actions for workplace
accidents, statute of repose estab
TESTIMONY DESCRIPTORS:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
00-H521-78
TESTIMONY NO: 2 July 21, 1999 p. 48-123
WITNESSES (and witness notations):
BELL, GRIFFIN B.
(former Attorney General, Department of Justice)
DELLINGER, WALTER E., III (former Solicitor General,
Department of Justice)
WOLFMAN, BRIAN (Staff Attorney,
Litigation Group, Public Citizen)
ELLIOTT, E. DONALD
(attorney)
STRUVE, GUY (Chairman, Committee on Federal
Courts, Association of the Bar of the City of New York)
DAYNARD, RICHARD A. (Chairman, Tobacco Liability Project,
Tobacco Control Resource Center, Northeastern University Law School)
BEISNER, JOHN H. (attorney)
MACK,
JAMES H. (Vice President, Government Relations, Association for Manufacturing
Technology)
BANTLE, THOMAS L. (Legislative Counsel, Public
Citizen Congress Watch)
BLEICHER, SAMUEL A. (attorney,
representing Coalition for Uniform Product Liability Law)
STATEMENTS AND DISCUSSION:
Conflicting perspectives on
H.R. 1875; concerns about abuses in class action lawsuits in
State courts; differing views on H.R. 2005.
CONTENT NOTATION:
Class action lawsuits, Fed dist court
jurisdiction estab; product liability actions for workplace
accidents, statute of repose estab
TESTIMONY DESCRIPTORS:
PUBLIC CITIZEN; STATE COURTS
LOAD-DATE: July 6, 2001 
