I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3789
To amend title 28, United States Code, to enlarge Federal Court jurisdiction
over purported class actions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 5, 1998
Mr. HYDE (for himself, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. CANADY
of Florida, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. PEASE, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to enlarge Federal
Court jurisdiction over purported class actions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1998’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of title 28, United States Code.
SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS.
(a) EXPANSION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Sec-
tion 1332 is amended by redesignating subsections (b),
(c), and (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively,
and by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
‘‘(b) The district courts additionally shall have origi-
nal jurisdiction of all civil actions, regardless of the sum
or value of the matter in controversy therein, which are
brought as a class action or comparable representative ac-
tion and in which—
‘‘(1) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
or other person on whose behalf the action is
brought is a citizen of a State different from any de-
fendant; or
‘‘(2) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
or other person on whose behalf the action is
brought is a foreign state, as defined in section
1603(a), or a citizen or subject of a foreign state
and any defendant is a citizen of a State; or
‘‘(3) any member of a proposed plaintiff class
or other person on whose behalf the action is
brought is a citizen of a State and any defendant is
a citizen or subject of a foreign state.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1332(c) (as
so redesignated) is amended by inserting after ‘‘Federal
courts’’ the following: ‘‘pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section’’.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CLASS ACTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1441(b), is amended by
inserting the following sentence after the first sentence in
that subsection: ‘‘Any civil action of which the district
courts have original jurisdiction on the basis of the juris-
dictional provisions of section 1332(b) also shall be remov-
able without regard to the citizenship or residence of the
parties (except as provided in section 1332(b)).’’.
(b) REMOVAL
BY SINGLE DEFENDANT.—Section
1446(a), is amended by inserting at the end the following:
‘‘Actions removed on the basis of the jurisdictional provi-
sions of section 1332(b) may be removed by any defend-
ant, regardless of whether the removal is joined by any
other defendant. Any class action removed to Federal
court shall be deemed as brought under Rule 23 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and treated as such’’.
(c) ELIMINATION OF 1-YEAR LIMITATION ON RE-
MOVAL OF CLASS ACTIONS.—The second sentence of sec-
tion 1446(b), is amended by striking ‘‘section 1332’’ and
inserting ‘‘section 1332(a).’’
SEC. 4. JURISDICTION OVER FAILED CLASS ACTIONS.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 85 is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘§ 1369. Jurisdiction over failed class actions
‘‘If a district court determines that any action subject
to its jurisdiction solely under the provisions of section
1332(b) may not proceed in any respect as a class action
or comparable representative action under Rule 23 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or other applicable law,
the court shall dismiss the action for lack of subject mat-
ter jurisdiction.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
of chapter 85 is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘1369. Jurisdiction over failed class actions.’’.
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall be applicable
to all litigation pending in any district court of the United
States or any court of any State as of the date of enact-
ment of this Act, except that any removal of an action
pursuant to chapter 89 of title 28, United States Code,
on the basis of the jurisdictional provisions of section
1332(b) of such title must occur within 60 days of the
date of enactment of this Act if the action has been pend-
ing for more than 30 days as of the date of enactment
of this Act.
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