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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 104 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1996 No. 39 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m., and was SCHEDULE and for other purposes, having met, after full called to order by the President pro and fair conference, have agreed to rec- Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, this ommend and do recommend to their respec- tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. morning the Senate will immediately tive Houses this report, signed by a majority begin consideration of the conference of the conferees. PRAYER report accompanying H.R. 956, the The Senate resumed consideration of The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John product liability bill. the conference report. Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: Under the consent agreement reached Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I am Abraham Lincoln expressed his de- last night, there will be 5 hours of de- pleased, after a lapse of almost 1 year, pendence on prayer to sustain and bate, equally divided, which will end to present to the Senate and to support strengthen him in difficult and chal- just after 3 p.m. today. At that time, the conference report on H.R. 956, the lenging times. He said, ‘‘I have been the Senate will begin a vote on invok- Common Sense Product Liability Legal driven many times to my knees by the ing cloture on the conference report, to Reform Act of 1996. This is a bipartisan overwhelming conviction that I had no- be immediately followed by a cloture proposal reflecting, essentially, the de- where to go but to prayer. My own wis- vote on the motion to proceed to the cisions made here in the U.S. Senate dom and that of those all about me Whitewater legislation. last year, without the broader addi- seemed insufficient for the day.’’ As a reminder, under a previous tions that were passed by the House of Representatives. Gracious Father, thank You for the order, if cloture is invoked today on Mr. President, during the course of gift of prayer. When problems pile up the product liability conference report, this 5 hours today, there will be many and pressures mount, we are so grate- there will be an additional 3 hours of debate tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., statements—passionately held—about ful that we, too, have a place to turn. what the future holds with respect to And You are there waiting for us, offer- with a vote on the adoption of the con- ference report at 12 noon on Thursday. both our legal system and our eco- ing Your grace for grim days and Your nomic system, and whether this bill strength for our struggles. How good it Following the cloture votes scheduled at 3 o’clock today, the Senate will should pass. As a consequence, Mr. is to know that we are not alone. We President, I want to start my remarks can be honest with You about our begin consideration of S. 1459, the graz- ing fees legislation. Additional votes with a statement about what has al- insufficiencies and discover the suffi- ready happened as a result of a very ciency of Your wisdom given in very are, therefore, to be expected today in regard to the grazing fees bill. modest product liability reform that specific and practical answers to our was passed by the Congress of the deepest needs. Lord, help us to spend f United States, and signed by the Presi- more time listening to Your answers RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME dent, just 2 or 3 years ago. I am going than we do in our lengthy explanations to do that because that action speaks to You of our problems. We dedicate The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. louder than any words we can say this day to seek Your guidance, to fol- CAMPBELL). Under the previous order, about the desirability of this broader low Your direction, and to do our best leadership time is reserved. legislation. to lead this Nation according to Your f On August 17, 1994, President Clinton will. We humbly confess our profound signed the General Aviation Revitaliza- need for You and praise You for Your COMMON SENSE PRODUCT LIABIL- tion Act of 1994. That act created an 18- faithfulness to give us exactly what we ITY LEGAL REFORM ACT OF year statute of repose on general avia- need for all the challenges of the day 1996—CONFERENCE REPORT tion, piston-driven aircraft. That single ahead. Lead on Lord. Amen. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under provision, in less than 2 years, has al- the previous order, the Senate will now ready had a magnificently positive im- f proceed to the conference report to ac- pact on the general aviation industry. company H.R. 956. Since the enactment of the bill, the general aviation industry has recorded RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING The clerk will report. its best year in more than a decade. In MAJORITY LEADER The legislative clerk read as follows: The committee of conference on the dis- 1986, as a result largely of product li- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The agreeing votes of the two Houses on the ability litigation, Cessna, a famous able acting majority leader is recog- amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. name in aviation, stopped producing nized, the Senator from Washington 956), a bill to establish legal standards and piston-driven aircraft. It has now reen- State. procedures for product liability litigation, tered that field. In July, Cessna will ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2341 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:32 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 041999 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 J:\ODA16\1996_F~1\S20MR6.REC S20MR6 mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS S2342 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 20, 1996 open a new $40 million facility in Kansas and, once again, will begin to produce piston-driven aircraft. The facility will employ about 2 VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:32 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 041999 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 J:\ODA16\1996_F~1\S20MR6.REC S20MR6 mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS March 20, 1996 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2343 open a new $40 million facility in Kansas and, once again, will begin to produce piston-driven aircraft. The facility will employ about 2 VerDate Aug 31 2005 04:32 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 041999 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 J:\ODA16\1996_F~1\S20MR6.REC S20MR6 mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS S2344 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 20, 1996 open a new $40 million facility in Kan- States deserve, we all agree, a system tual damages, the actual losses to an sas and, once again, will begin to that is fair and efficient, yields reason- individual, the lower the percentage of produce piston-driven aircraft. The fa- ably predictable results, holds parties actual recovery. cility will employ about 2,000 people. responsible in accordance with their Unpredictability. Last year in a hear- Cessna is not alone in this connec- fault, and perhaps most importantly ing before the Commerce Committee a tion, Mr. President. Piper Aircraft, just reduces the wasteful transaction costs Virginia law professor, Jeffrey 2 years ago, was having an extremely associated with all kinds of litigation, O’Connell, explained: difficult time getting out of a bank- but in this case product liability litiga- If you are badly injured in our society by ruptcy proceeding to which it had been tion. a product and you go to a highly skilled subjected. No investor wanted to come Estimates of total tort costs of liti- lawyer...in all honesty the lawyer cannot to the rescue of that famous American gation and associated activities range tell you what you will be paid, when you will company because it would have to as- from some $80 to $117 billion a year. be paid, or, indeed, if you will be paid. sume its liability risks. Since the en- Every dollar of these costs is forced What is the effect of a broken down actment of that simple piece of legisla- back on consumers through higher system on people in the United States tion, however, investors have come for- prices on products used every day, and today? First, it is increased costs. I ward. The Piper Aircraft Co. has come not at all, incidentally, limits the have already referred to the fact that out of bankruptcy, and its employment choice of those products as well. one manufacturer of vaccines has has increased by 30 percent. More gen- Listen to just a few facts about to- raised its price 400 percent, from $2.80 erally, employment is up at every gen- day’s product liability system in Amer- to $11.40, solely to recover the cost of eral aviation manufacturing facility in ica. The current system accounts for increased lawsuits, and that in 1984 two the United States by 15 percent. We about 20 percent of the cost of a ladder. of the three companies manufacturing went to the Internet last week to find It accounts for 50 percent of the cost of the DPT vaccine decided to stop pro- the kind of job openings that have re- a football helmet. Injured parties, on duction because it just simply was not sulted from this resurgence in general the other hand, receive less than half worth it, by reason of the cost of the aviation activity. Here is a brief list of of the money spent on product liability product liability.

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