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[Journal of the House of Representatives, 1995]
[Thursday, March 9, 1995 (41), Para 41.24 Recorded Vote]
[Pages 361-362]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

para.41.24  recorded vote

  A recorded vote by electronic device was ordered in the Committee of 
the Whole on the following amendment submitted by Mr. COX:

       Page 1, strike line 7 and all that follows through the 
     matter that precedes line 1 on page 2, and insert the 
     following:
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents is as 
     follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.

                   TITLE I--PRODUCT LIABILITY REFORM

Sec. 101. Applicability.
Sec. 102. Liability rules applicable to product sellers.
Sec. 103. Defense based on claimant's use of intoxicating alcohol or 
              drugs.
Sec. 104. Misuse or alteration.
Sec. 105. Frivolous pleadings.
Sec. 106. Several liability for noneconomic loss.
Sec. 107. Statute of repose.
Sec. 108. Definitions.

    TITLE II--LIMITATION ON SPECULATIVE AND ARBITRARY DAMAGE AWARDS

Sec. 201. Treble damages as penalty in civil actions.
Sec. 202. Limitation on additional payments beyond actual damages.
Sec. 203. Fair share rule for noneconomic damage awards.
Sec. 204. Definitions.

                   TITLE III--BIOMATERIALS SUPPLIERS

Sec. 301. Liability of biomaterials suppliers.
Sec. 302. Procedures for dismissal of civil actions against 
              biomaterials suppliers.
Sec. 303. Definitions.

         TITLE IV--LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 401. Application limited to interstate commerce.
Sec. 402. Effect on other law.
Sec. 403. Federal cause of action precluded.
Sec. 404. Effective date.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) the civil justice system, which is designed to 
     safeguard our most cherished rights, to remedy injustices, 
     and to defend our liberty, is increasingly being deployed to 
     abridge our rights, create injustice, and destroy our 
     liberty;
       (2) our Nation is overly litigious, the civil justice 
     system is overcrowded, sluggish, and excessively costly, and 
     the costs of lawsuits, both direct and indirect, are 
     inflicting serious and unnecessary injury on the national 
     economy;
       (3) excessive, unpredictable, and often arbitrary damage 
     awards and unfair allocations of liability have a direct and 
     undesirable effect on interstate commerce by increasing the 
     cost and decreasing the availability of goods and services;
       (4) the rules of law governing product liability actions, 
     damage awards, and allocations of liability have evolved 
     inconsistently within and among the several States, resulting 
     in a complex, contradictory, and uncertain regime that is 
     inequitable to both plaintiffs and defendants and unduly 
     burdens interstate commerce;
       (5) as a result of excessive, unpredictable, and often 
     arbitrary damage awards and unfair allocations of liability, 
     consumers have been adversely affected through the withdrawal 
     of products, producers, services, and service providers from 
     the national market, and from excessive liability costs 
     passed on to them through higher prices;
       (6) excessive, unpredictable, and often arbitrary damage 
     awards and unfair allocations of liability jeopardize the 
     financial well-being of many individuals as well as entire 
     industries, particularly the Nation's small businesses, and 
     adversely affects governments, taxpayers, nonprofit entities 
     and volunteer organizations;
       (7) the excessive costs of the civil justice system 
     undermine the ability of American companies to compete 
     internationally, and serve to decrease the number of jobs and 
     the amount of productive capital in the national economy;
       (8) the unpredictability of damage awards is inequitable to 
     both plaintiffs and defendants and has added considerably to 
     the high cost of liability insurance, making it difficult for 
     producers, consumers, and individuals to protect their 
     liability with any degree of confidence and at a reasonable 
     cost;
       (9) because of the national scope of the problems crated by 
     the defects in the civil justice system, it is not possible 
     for the several States to enact laws that fully and 
     effectively respond to those problems;
       (10) it is the constitutional role of the national 
     government to remove barriers to interstate commerce; and
       (11) there is need to restore rationality, certainty, and 
     fairness to the civil justice system in order to protect 
     against excessive, arbitrary, and uncertain damage awards and 
     to reduce the volume, costs, and delay of litigation.
       (b) Purposes.--Based upon the powers contained in Article 
     I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, the 
     purposes of this Act are to promote the free flow of goods 
     and services and to lessen burdens on interstate commerce 
     by--
       (1) establishing certain uniform legal principles of 
     product liability which provide a fair balance among the 
     interests which provide a fair balance among the interests of 
     product users, manufacturers, and product sellers;
       (2) placing reasonable limits on damages over and above the 
     actual damages suffered by a claimant;
       (3) ensuring the fair allocation of liability in civil 
     actions;
       (4) reducing the unacceptable costs and delays of our civil 
     justice system caused by excessive litigation which harm both 
     plaintiffs and defendants; and
       (5) establishing greater fairness, rationality, and 
     predictability in the civil justice system.
       Page 2, strike line 3 and all that follows through line 24, 
     and page 4 (and redesignate subsequent sections accordingly).
       Page 11, strike lines 17 through 24 (and redesignate 
     subsequent sections accordingly).
       Page 12, strike line 24 and all that follows through line 2 
     on page 13 (and redesignate the subsequent section 
     accordingly).
       Page 17, strike lines 10 through 12 and insert the 
     following:

[[Page 362]]

    TITLE II--LIMITATION ON SPECULATIVE AND ARBITRARY DAMAGE AWARDS

     SEC. 201. TREBLE DAMAGES AS PENALTY IN CIVIL ACTIONS.

       Page 17, line 21, insert ``rights or'' before ``safety''.
       Page 17, beginning in line 25, strike ``for the economic 
     loss on which the claimant's action is based'' and insert 
     ``for economic loss''.
       Page 18, insert after the period in line 2 the following: 
     ``This section shall be applied by the court and shall not be 
     disclosed to the jury.''.
       Page 18, line 3, strike ``and Preemption''.
       Page 18, strike ``title'' in lines 4 and 6 and insert 
     ``section''.
       Page 18, beginning in line 7, strike ``in any jurisdiction 
     that does not authorize such actions'' and insert after the 
     period in line 8 the following: ``This section does not 
     preempt or supersede any State or Federal law to the extent 
     that such law would further limit the award of punitive 
     damages.''.
       Page 19, after line 19, insert the following new sections 
     (and redesignate the subsequent section accordingly):

     SEC. 202. FAIR SHARE RULE FOR NONECONOMIC DAMAGE AWARDS.

       (a) Fair Share of Liability Imposed According to Share of 
     Fault.--In any product liability or other civil action 
     brought in State or Federal court, a defendant shall be 
     liable only for the amount of noneconomic damages 
     attributable to such defendant in direct proportion to such 
     defendant's share of fault or responsibility for the 
     claimant's actual damages, as determined by the trier of 
     fact. In all such cases, the liability of a defendant for 
     noneconomic damages shall be several and not joint.
       (b) Applicability.--Except as provided in section 401, this 
     section shall apply to any product liability or other civil 
     action brought in any Federal or State court on any theory 
     where noneconomic damages are sought. This section does not 
     preempt or supersede any State or Federal law to the extent 
     that such law would further limit the application of the 
     theory of joint liability to any kind of damages.
       Page 19, after line 21, insert the following new paragraph:
       (1) The term ``actual damages'' means damages awarded to 
     pay for economic loss.
       Page 19, line 22, strike ``(1)'' and insert ``(2)''.
       Page 20, line 4, strike ``(2)'' and insert ``(3)''.
       Page 20, line 12, strike ``(3)'' and insert ``(4)''.
       Page 20, line 18, strike ``(4)'' and insert ``(5)''.
       Page 20, after line 20, insert the following new paragraph 
     (and redesignate subsequent paragraphs accordingly):
       (6) The term ``noneconomic damages'' means damages other 
     than punitive damages or actual damages.
       Page 20, line 21, strike ``(5)'' and insert ``(7)''.
       Page 21, line 1, strike ``(6)'' and insert ``(8)''.
       Page 30, strike lines 6 and 7, and insert the following:

         TITLE IV--LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE

     SEC. 401. APPLICATION LIMITED TO INTERSTATE COMMERCE.

       Titles I, II, and III shall apply only to product liability 
     or other civil actions affecting interstate commerce. For 
     purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ``interstate 
     commerce'' means commerce among the several States or with 
     foreign nations, or in any territory of the United States or 
     in the District of Columbia, or between any such territory 
     and another, or between any such territory and any State or 
     foreign nation, or between the District of Columbia and any 
     State or territory or foreign nation.
       Redesignate subsequent sections accordingly.

It was decided in the

Yeas

263

affirmative

Nays

164
```