Class Action Fairness Act – Congressman McCotter voted for legislation to end class action lawsuit abuses that have harmed plaintiffs and defendants in our legal system, inflated prices of goods and services in America, and chased many of our jobs offshore.
The Class Action Fairness Act (H.R. 5), which the House passed 279 to 149 on Thursday, addresses the most serious abuses by allowing interstate class actions to be filed in federal court. Currently, many national class actions are filed in state “magnet” courts, like Madison County, Illinois, which are rife with abuses. They routinely approve settlements in which lawyers receive large fee awards and the class members receive virtually nothing, decide claims of other states’ citizens under their own law, and deny both consumers’ and defendants’ due process rights.
The legislation, approved by the Senate last week, also creates a “Consumer Class Action Bill of Rights” which protects consumers from some of the most egregious abuses in class action practice today. It contains several provisions specifically designed to ensure that class members are the primary beneficiaries of the class actions process.
Manufacturing Council Meeting – Congressman McCotter joined Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services Albert A. Frink in presenting remarks at a meeting Friday of the Manufacturing Council at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Former Michigan Governor John Engler, who is now the President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, along with Ford Motor Company President and COO James Padilla and Fred Keller, Chairman and CEO of Cascade Engineering will be among several panelists speaking on the current state of manufacturing.
Returning Democratic rule to Lebanon – Congressman McCotter is a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 32, expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the occupation of the Republic of Lebanon by the Syrian Arab Republic. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the legislation’s sponsor.
Background -- For 25 years, Lebanon has been denied its sovereignty by the regime in Damascus—a regime which has imposed its will upon the Lebanese people through electoral intimidation, political persecution, stifling of free speech, assassination of opposition leaders, and brute military force. Lebanon is the only country currently occupied by a full member of the United Nations in violation of all international law, in particular, recently adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559. This resolution calls on all foreign troops to “withdraw without delay” from Lebanon; urges a stop to meddling in the country’s elections; and, calls on Lebanon to disband and disarm all militias, including Hezbollah.
A free Lebanon is at the crux of any solution to long-term peace and stability in that immediate area, and must be explicitly recognized as such. Accordingly, this resolution calls for:
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The President to instruct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to present and secure support for a Security Council Resolution classifying Lebanon as a “captive nation;”
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The President, pursuant to existing law, freeze all assets belonging to Lebanese government officials in the United States who are found to support and aid in Syria’s occupation of Lebanon; and
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United States policy to include support for independent human rights and pro-democracy advocates in Lebanon and for the full restoration of sovereign democratic rule in Lebanon.
JBANC Conference – Congressman McCotter announced plans to participate in the Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC) sixth biennial Baltic conference on March 3-5, 2005 in Washington, DC. In a February 9 meeting with Rep. McCotter, a member of the House International Relations European Subcommittee, members of JBANC discussed the conference, the upcoming legislative agenda for the new 109th Congress and plans to reform the Congressional Caucus on Central Europe with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL 3). McCotter is also a member of the House Baltic Caucus.
The program will be updated on JBANC’s website: http://jbanc.org
Schedule – Congress is in recess next week. Congressman McCotter will be in the district.