April 26, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5729

relating to recommendations by Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

S. 295

At the request of Mrs. KASSEBAUM,

the name of the Senator from North

Carolina [Mr. HELMS] was added as a

cosponsor of S. 295, a bill to permit

labor management cooperative efforts

that improve America’s economic competitiveness to continue to thrive, and

for other purposes.

S. 306

At the request of Mr. DORGAN, the

name of the Senator from California

[Mrs. FEINSTEIN] was added as a cosponsor of S. 306, a bill entitled the

‘‘Television Violence Reduction

Through Parental Empowerment Act

of 1995.’’

S. 351

At the request of Mr. HATCH, the

name of the Senator from Arizona [Mr.

KYL] was added as a cosponsor of S. 351,

a bill to amend the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986 to make permanent the

credit for increasing research activities.

S. 356

At the request of Mr. COATS, his

name was added as a cosponsor of S.

356, a bill to amend title 4, United

States Code, to declare English as the

official language of the Government of

the United States.

S. 440

At the request of Mr. COATS, his

name was added as a cosponsor of S.

440, a bill to amend title 23, United

States Code, to provide for the designation of the National Highway System,

and for other purposes.

S. 506

At the request of Mr. CRAIG, the

name of the Senator from Wyoming

[Mr. SIMPSON] was added as a cosponsor

of S. 506, a bill to amend the general

mining laws to provide a reasonable

royalty from mineral activities on Federal lands, to specify reclamation requirements for mineral activities on

Federal lands, to create a State program for the reclamation of abandoned

hard rock mining sites on Federal

lands, and for other purposes.

S. 565

At the request of Mr. PRESSLER, the

names of the Senator from Oregon [Mr.

HATFIELD] and the Senator from Tennessee [Mr. FRIST] were added as cosponsors of S. 565, a bill to regulate

interstate commerce by providing for a

uniform product liability law, and for

other purposes.

At the request of Mr. GORTON, the

name of the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. FAIRCLOTH] was added as a cosponsor of S. 565, supra.

S. 584

At the request of Mr. ROBB, the name

of the Senator from Massachusetts

[Mr. KENNEDY] was added as a cosponsor of S. 584, a bill to authorize the

award of the Purple Heart to persons

who were prisoners of war on or before

April 25, 1962.

S. 602

At the request of Mr. BROWN, the

name of the Senator from Connecticut

[Mr. LIEBERMAN] was added as a cosponsor of S. 602, a bill to amend the

NATO Participation Act of 1994 to expedite the transition to full membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of European countries

emerging from communist domination.

SENATE RESOLUTION 85

At the request of Mr. CHAFEE, the

names of the Senator from Ohio [Mr.

DEWINE] and the Senator from Wyoming [Mr. THOMAS] were added as cosponsors of Senate Resolution 85, A

resolution to express the sense of the

Senate that obstetrician-gynecologists

should be included in Federal laws relating to the provision of health care.

AMENDMENT NO. 596

At the request of Mr. GORTON the

name of the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. FAIRCLOTH] was added as a cosponsor of amendment No. 596 proposed

to H.R. 956, a bill to establish legal

standards and procedures for product

liability litigation, and for other purSENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUposes.

TION 11—RELATIVE TO CYPRUS

fMs. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. SIMON,

Mr. PRESSLER, Mr. SARBANES, Mr.

D’AMATO, and Mr. DODD) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

S. CON. RES. 11

Whereas the long-standing dispute regarding Cyprus remains unresolved;

Whereas the military occupation by Turkey of a large part of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus has continued for over 20

years;

Whereas the status quo on Cyprus remains

unacceptable;

Whereas the United States attaches great

importance to a just and peaceful resolution

of the dispute regarding Cyprus;

Whereas the United Nations and the United States are using their good offices to resolve such dispute;

Whereas on January 5, 1995, President Clinton appointed a Special Presidential Emissary for Cyprus;

Whereas the United Nations has adopted

numerous resolutions that set forth the basis

of a solution for the dispute regarding Cyprus;

Whereas paragraph (2) of United Nations

Security Council Resolution 939 of July 29,

1994, reaffirms that a solution must be based

on a State of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality, and a

single citizenship, with its independence and

territorial integrity safeguarded, and comprising two politically equal communities as

described in the relevant Security Council

Resolutions, in a bicommunal and bizonal

federation, and that such a settlement must

exclude union in whole or in part with any

other country or any form of partition or secession;

Whereas the United Nations Secretary

General has described the occupied part of

Cyprus as one of the most highly militarized

areas in the world;

Whereas the continued overwhelming presence of more than 30,000 Turkish troops on

Cyprus hampers the search for a freely negotiated solution to the dispute regarding Cyprus;

Whereas the United Nations and the United States have called for the withdrawal of

all foreign troops from the territory of the

Republic of Cyprus; and

Whereas comprehensive plans for the demilitarization of the Republic of Cyprus have

been proposed: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Congress—

(1) reaffirms that the status quo on Cyprus

is unacceptable;

(2) welcomes the appointment of a Special

Presidential Emissary for Cyprus;

(3) expresses its continued strong support

for efforts by the United Nations Secretary

General and the United States Government

to help resolve the Cyprus problem in a just

and viable manner at the earliest possible

time;

(4) insists that all parties to the dispute regarding Cyprus agree to seek a solution

based upon the relevant United Nations resolutions, including paragraph (2) of United

Nations Security Council Resolution 939 of

July 29, 1994;

(5) reaffirms the position that all foreign

troops should be withdrawn from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus;

(6) considers that demilitarization of the

Republic of Cyprus would meet the security

concerns of all parties involved, would enhance prospects for a peaceful and lasting

resolution of the dispute regarding Cyprus,

would benefit all of the people of Cyprus, and

merits international support; and

(7) encourages the United Nations Security

Council and the United States Government

to consider alternative approaches to promote a resolution of the long-standing dispute regarding Cyprus based upon relevant

Security Council resolutions, including incentives to encourage progress in negotiations or effective measures against any recalcitrant party.

∑ Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I

am submitting a resolution calling for

the end of the long-standing dispute on

Cyprus. I am pleased to be joined as

original cosponsors by my distinguished colleagues, Senators SIMON,

PRESSLER, SARBANES, D’AMATO, and

DODD.

Mr. President, last year marked the

20th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Year after year the political deadlock over Cyprus has endured. But elsewhere in the world these

same two decades has seen the end to

the Soviet Union, mutual recognition

between Israel and the PLO, a peaceful

transition to majority rule in South

Africa, and a renunciation of terrorism

by the Irish Republican Army and

movement toward an enduring peace in

Northern Ireland. It is long past time

for a similar breakthrough for peace on

Cyprus.

That is the purpose of this resolution. This resolution speaks with moderation with the hope of bringing together all sides to the conflict. But despite its moderate tones, the resolution

calls for looking at the problem of Cyprus in a radically new way. The resolution: declares the status quo on Cyprus to be unacceptable; welcomes

President Clinton’s appointment of a

special emissary for Cyprus; calls on

all parties to seek a solution based on

the U.N. Security Council resolution of
S5730 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 26, 1995

July 29, 1994, which stated that any solution must be based on a single State

of Cyprus with its independence and

territorial integrity safeguarded; calls

for the withdrawal of all foreign

troops; states that proposals for a total

demilitarization of Cyprus would enhance the security of all the Cypriot

people and merits support; and urges

the Security Council and the United

States Government to consider alternative approaches to promote a resolution to the long-standing dispute, including incentives to encourage

progress or sanctions against recalcitrant parties.

Mr. President, two decades ago, Turkey’s brutal invasion drove more than

200,000 Cypriots from their homes and

reduced them to the status of refugees

in their own land. More than 2,000 people are still missing, including five

American citizens. The Turkish Army

seized 40 percent of the land of Cyprus,

representing 70 percent of the island’s

economic wealth. Today, Turkey continues to maintain over 35,000 troops

on the island, which forms the bedrock

of the continuing political impasse.

The phrase ‘‘35,000 Turkish troops’’

may sound familiar, because this is the

number of troops Turkey has used,

with tragic sameness, in its invasion

last month of U.N.-protected Kurdish

areas of northern Iraq. For the benefit

of the Kurdish people of Iraq, who have

been subject to genocidal attacks by

their own government, I only hope that

they will not suffer the same fate as

the people of Cyprus. On Cyprus, Turkey initially pledged to stay only for a

brief time to protect the Turkish-Cypriot minority on Cyprus. Now, we are

beginning the third decade of Turkish

occupation.

In an effort to transform this paradigm of deadlock, last year Cypriot

President Glafcos Clerides offered to

totally demilitarize the island of Cyprus in the context of a Turkish military withdrawal and political agreement to reunify the country. The Government of Cyprus, then, has volunteered to entirely disband its military

forces, giving up this fundamental sovereign attribute for the purpose of

peace.

The need to transform the terms of

the debate over Cyprus is self evident

for all who choose to see. I was first

elected to the House in 1978, 4 years

after the Turkish invasion. That was

the same year that President Carter

succeeded in getting the United States

arms embargo on Turkey lifted on the

promise of an imminent breakthrough

on ending the tragic and illegal division of the island.

Every year I have been in Congress I

have noted a sad, cynical process unfold. Each year, there are hints of

movement and glimmering hopes of

ending the Turkish occupation and reuniting Cyprus. The most recent opportunity has been the U.N.-sponsored

talks over ‘‘Confidence Building Measures,’’ which would certainly be constructive if the talks had been undertaken in good faith by all sides and if

they could set the stage for moving

rapidly toward a final resolution of the

dispute. But neither has been the case,

so the talks ultimately atrophied into

endless discussions and disagreements

over the same kind of modest halfmeasures that have been the subject of

endless talk ever since 1974.

Mr. President, we must continue to

press for a negotiated settlement to

the illegal division of Cyprus, and we

must neither accept nor become comfortable with the status quo. This resolution is moderate in tone, and refrains

from laying blame on any party. I believe that all parties can and must

take a new look at the problem of Cyprus and work in good faith to bring

this tragedy to an end. But as this resolution makes clear, our Nation must

also be prepared to work alone or

through the Security Council to ensure

that all parties also understand that a

continued impasse on Cyprus will not

be tolerated.

AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

∑

fTHE COMMONSENSE LEGAL

STANDARDS REFORM ACT OF 1995

ABRAHAM (AND OTHERS)

AMENDMENTS NOS. 600–601

(Ordered to lie on the table.)

Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr.

MCCONNELL, and Mr. KYL) submitted

two amendments intended to be proposed by them to amendment No. 596

proposed by Mr. GORTON to the bill

(H.R. 956) to establish legal standards

and procedures for product liability

litigation, and for other purposes; as

follows:

AMENDMENT NO. 600

Strike out section 109 and insert in lieu

thereof the following new section:

SEC. 109. SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR NONECONOMIC DAMAGES

(A) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

(1) because of the joint and several liability doctrine, municipalities, volunteer

groups, nonprofit entities, property owners,

and large and small businesses are often

brought into litigation despite the fact that

their conduct often had little or nothing to

do with the harm suffered by the claimant;

(2) the imposition of joint and several liability for noneconomic damages frequently

results in the assessment of unfair and disproportionate damages against defendants

that bear no relationship to their fault or responsibility;

(3) producers of products and services who

are only marginally responsible for an injury

risk bearing the entire cost of a judgment for

noneconomic damages even if the products

or services originate in States that have replaced joint liability for noneconomic damages with proportionate liability, because

claimants have an incentive to bring suit in

States that have retained joint liability; and

(4) the unfair allocation of noneconomic

damages under the joint and several liability

doctrine disrupts, impairs and burdens commerce, imposing unreasonable and unjustified costs on consumers, taxpayers, governmental entities, large and small businesses,

volunteer organizations, and nonprofit entities.

(b) GENERAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any

other section of this Act, in any civil action

whose subject matter affects commerce

brought in Federal or State court on any

theory, the liability of each defendant for

noneconomic damages shall be several only

and shall not be great.

(c) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Each defendant shall be

liable only for the amount of noneconomic

damages allocated to their defendant in direct proportion to the percentage of responsibility of the defendant (determined in accordance with paragraph (2)) for the harm to

the claimant with respect to which the defendant is liable. The court shall render a

separate judgment against each defendant in

an amount determined pursuant to the preceding sentence.

(2) PERENTAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY.—For

purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic damages allocated to a defendant

under this section, the trier of fact shall determine the percentage of responsibility of

each person, including the claimant, responsible for the claimant’s harm, whether or not

such person is a part to the action.

(d) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this section

shall be construed to—

(1) waive or affect any defense or sovereign

immunity asserted by the United States, or

by any State, under any law;

(2) give rise to any claim for joint liability;

(3) supersede or alter any Federal law;

(4) preempt, supersede, or alter any State

law to the extent that such law would further limit the applicability of joint liability

to any kind of damages;

(5) affect the applicability of any provision

of chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code;

(6) preempt State choice-of-law rules with

respect to claims brought by a foreign nation

or a citizen of a foreign nation; or

(7) affect the right of any court to transfer

venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation

or to dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or

of a citizen of a foreign nation on the ground

of inconvenient forum.

(e) FEDERAL COURT JURISDICTION NOT ESTABLISHED.—Nothing in this section shall be

construed to establish any jurisdiction in the

district courts of the United States on the

basis of section 1331 or 1337 of title 28, United

States Code.

(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

(1) The term ‘‘claimant’’ means any person

who brings a civil action and any person on

whose behalf such an action is brought. If

such action is brought through or on behalf

of an estate, the term includes the decedent.

If such action is brought through or on behalf of a minor or incompetent, the term includes the legal guardian of the minor or incompetent.

(2) The term ‘‘commerce’’ means commerce

between or among the several States, or with

foreign nations.

(3)(A) The term ‘‘economic damages’’

means any objectively verifiable monetary

losses resulting from the harm suffered, including past and future medical expenses,

loss of past and future earnings, burial costs,

costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining replacement services in the home

(including, without limitation, child care,

transportation, food preparation, and household care), costs of making reasonable accommodations to a personal residence, loss

of employment, and loss of business or employment opportunities, to the extent recovery for such losses is allowed under applicable State law.

(B) The term ‘‘economic damages’’ shall

not include noneconomic damages.

(4) The term ‘‘harm’’ means any legally

cognizable wrong or injury for which damages may be imposed.