SMALL BUSINESS LIABILITY REFORM ACT OF 1999 -- HON. TIM HOLDEN (Extensions of Remarks - June 25, 1999)

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HON. TIM HOLDEN OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1999

Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues to introduce the Small Business Liability Reform Act of 1999. Like the other pieces of civil justice reform legislation that have recently been enacted into Federal law, this bill departs from the comprehensive approach that advocates of broad product liability and tort reform have taken in the past. Instead, this bill focuses on a few key specific liability issues: the exposure of very small businesses--those with fewer than 25 full-time employees--to joint liability for non-economic damages and punitive damages, and the exposure of retailers, wholesalers, distributors and other non-manufacturing product sellers to product liability lawsuits for harms they did not cause.

Last month, similar legislation was introduced in the other body (S. 1185) and it is my hope and expectation that our efforts in this body will combine with the work of our Senate colleagues to enable the Congress to respond positively and on a bipartisan basis to the concerns we hear year after year from smaller employers about our civil justice system.

Let me emphasize, Mr. Speaker, that the bill we introduce today is careful not to overreach. As I previously indicated, this is a narrowly crafted, tightly focused bill. The provisions restraining joint liability and punitive damages do not apply to civil cases that may arise from certain violations of criminal law or egregious misconduct. Nor do they apply in States that elect to opt-out with respect to cases brought in State court in which all parties are citizens of the State. The product seller liability provisions are strictly confined to product liability actions and protect the ability of innocent victims of defective products to fully recover damage awards to which they are entitled.

Mr. Speaker, the provisions of this legislation have previously won bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. Although limited in scope, their enactment into law will reduce unnecessary litigation and wasteful legal costs and improve the administration of civil justice across this country. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass this limited but meaningful civil justice reform bill with strong bipartisan support.
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