Another New Years resolution Congress should act on is
product liability reform.
He added, "In all probability, thoughtful
product liability reform measures in Madison shall receive a deserved boost due to the dangerous elasticity of the Thomas cases and several unrelated decisions that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has issued coincidentally, which together stand to usurp the power of the legislature and permanently bend the state's traditional tort system out of kilter.
The issue of
product liability reform has been on the national agenda since the mid-1980s.
Out of the 14 states who've passed legislation to protect gun manufacturers and retailers from junk lawsuits, Texas' work is the most important, for two reasons: First, Texas has passed perhaps the broadest
product liability reform in the nation.
As with multiple imposition of punitive damages, there is a clear need for
product liability reform legislation at the federal level.
He was the principal sponsor of
product liability reform in the 104th Congress, the only bill of its kind to pass the house.
We will provide it through many of the initiatives explained elsewhere in this platform: lower tax rates, ending the death tax, cutting through red tape, legal and
product liability reform, and the aggressive expansion of overseas markets for their goods and services.
Key upcoming debates facing the House and Senate include retail bankruptcy reform, a workplace ergonomics vote and the Small Business
Product Liability Reform Act, Sederholm said.
Congress has debated
product liability reform for some 20 years and a reform bill was vetoed by President Clinton in 1997.
The
Product Liability Reform Act of 1997, however, should not escape close constitutional scrutiny.
However, early speculation indicates that
product liability reform similar to this year's proposal could be enacted during a second Clinton term.
So if he is reelected, there is little likelihood that
product liability reform can be realized in the next four years.
