IB 
Union Calendar No. 75 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 554 
[Report No. 109–130] 
To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being usurped by civil 
liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, mar-
keters, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims 
of injury relating to a person’s weight gain, obesity, or any health 
condition associated with weight gain or obesity. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2005 
Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. 
SENSENBRENNER, Mr. NEY, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GARRETT 
of New Jersey, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, 
Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Ms. 
GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. 
CARTER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SIMPSON, 
Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. AKIN, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. 
BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. COX, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FRANKS 
of Arizona, Mr. MACK, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. PETRI, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. JO 
ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. 
HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsyl-
vania, and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
JUNE 14, 2005 
Additional sponsors: Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. HALL, Mr. FORTUN˜O, Mr. 
SHAW, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. KLINE, Mr. JINDAL, Ms. 
HART, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. REGULA, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BAKER, Mr. 
MCCOTTER, Ms. FOXX, Mr. UPTON, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. WILSON of South 
Carolina, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. GINGREY, 
Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Ms. HERSETH, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
ISSA, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. 
CHABOT, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. BOUSTANY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BUR-
GESS, Mr. TERRY, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr.
SAXTON, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. COBLE, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. 
SODREL, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, and Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky 
JUNE 14, 2005 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 2, 2005] 
A BILL 
To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being 
usurped by civil liability actions brought or continued 
against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, ad-
vertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of 
injury relating to a person’s weight gain, obesity, or 
any health condition associated with weight gain or obe-
sity. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Personal Responsibility 
in Food Consumption Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the food and beverage industries are a sig-
nificant part of our national economy; 
(2) the activities of manufacturers and sellers of 
foods and beverages substantially affect interstate and 
foreign commerce;
(3) a person’s weight gain, obesity, or a health 
condition associated with a person’s weight gain or 
obesity is based on a multitude of factors, including 
genetic factors and the lifestyle and physical fitness 
decisions of individuals, such that a person’s weight 
gain, obesity, or a health condition associated with a 
person’s weight gain or obesity cannot be attributed 
to the consumption of any specific food or beverage; 
and 
(4) because fostering a culture of acceptance of 
personal responsibility is one of the most important 
ways to promote a healthier society, lawsuits seeking 
to blame individual food and beverage providers for 
a person’s weight gain, obesity, or a health condition 
associated with a person’s weight gain or obesity are 
not only legally frivolous and economically damaging, 
but also harmful to a healthy America. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to allow 
Congress and regulatory agencies to determine appropriate 
laws, rules, and regulations to address the problems of 
weight gain, obesity, and health conditions associated with 
weight gain or obesity. 
SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF SEPARATION OF POWERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A qualified civil liability action 
may not be brought in any Federal or State court.
(b) DISMISSAL OF PENDING ACTIONS.—A qualified 
civil liability action that is pending on the date of the en-
actment of this Act shall be dismissed immediately by the 
court in which the action was brought or is currently pend-
ing. 
(c) DISCOVERY.— 
(1) STAY.—In any action that is allegedly of the 
type described in section 4(5)(B) seeking to impose li-
ability of any kind based on accumulative acts of con-
sumption of a qualified product, the obligation of any 
party or non-party to make disclosures of any kind 
under any applicable rule or order, or to respond to 
discovery requests of any kind, as well as all pro-
ceedings unrelated to a motion to dismiss, shall be 
stayed prior to the time for filing a motion to dismiss 
and during the pendency of any such motion, unless 
the court finds upon motion of any party that a re-
sponse to a particularized discovery request is nec-
essary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue preju-
dice to that party. 
(2) RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTIES.—During the 
pendency of any stay of discovery under paragraph 
(1), the responsibilities of the parties with regard to 
the treatment of all documents, data compilations (in-
cluding electronically recorded or stored data), and
tangible objects shall be governed by applicable Fed-
eral or State rules of civil procedure. A party ag-
grieved by the failure of an opposing party to comply 
with this paragraph shall have the applicable rem-
edies made available by such applicable rules, pro-
vided that no remedy shall be afforded that conflicts 
with the terms of paragraph (1). 
(d) PLEADINGS.—In any action that is allegedly of the 
type described in section 4(5)(B) seeking to impose liability 
of any kind based on accumulative acts of consumption of 
a qualified product, the complaint initiating such action 
shall state with particularity— 
(1) each element of the cause of action; 
(2) the Federal and State statutes or other laws 
that were allegedly violated; 
(3) the specific facts alleged to constitute the 
claimed violation of law; and 
(4) the specific facts alleged to have caused the 
claimed injury. 
(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of this 
Act shall be construed to create a public or private cause 
of action or remedy. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: