Sam Brownback

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today with several bipartisan colleagues, Senator Corzine and I introduced the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005. For nearly a year, this body has been aware of the ongoing genocide in Sudan. Last July we declared genocide in Darfur, followed shortly thereafter by the same declaration by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Yet no punitive measure has been taken by the international community against the Government of Sudan for these egregious human rights violations. Some sources estimate that as many as 400,000 people have died as a result, and nearly 2 million have been displaced from their homes. Yesterday I spoke on the Senate floor in an attempt to display the face of genocide. Photographs of scorched bodies, castrated men, dead children, and burned villages were provided to me by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. These photos do nothing less than display the cruel impunity of those committing genocide. The haunting reality is that the international community has failed on their promise of ``never again.'' The United Nations should take immediate steps to end this genocide and Kofi Annan should lead the Security Council to pass a strong, meaningful resolution that will immediately change the situation on the ground. There is no longer an excuse; we must call this what this is, and we must immediately act to prevent further pillaging and death. I have called on Annan several times to lead or leave. He should pass a resolution with mechanisms to see that the impunity ends and if he fails to do so, resign in moral protest at the international community's inaction and complacency. Our bill, the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005, calls for several key measures to be taken, including: a multilateral arms embargo to include the government of Sudan; a no fly zone; multilateral sanctions; targeted sanctions including travel bans and the freezing of assets of criminals; accelerated assistance to AU monitoring troops, and several other items that will secure a peaceful Darfur. I encourage my colleagues to join us in moving this bill through Congress. We do not have days or weeks to spare when millions of lives are in jeopardy. We cannot grant the government of Sudan and the janjaweed more time to execute the African tribes in Darfur. I look forward to working with Senator Corzine and other colleagues to see passage of this bill immediately.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today with several bipartisan colleagues, Senator Corzine and I introduced the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005. For nearly a year, this body has been aware of the ongoing genocide in Sudan. Last July we declared genocide in Darfur, followed shortly thereafter by the same declaration by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Yet no punitive measure has been taken by the international community against the Government of Sudan for these egregious human rights violations. Some sources estimate that as many as 400,000 people have died as a result, and nearly 2 million have been displaced from their homes. Yesterday I spoke on the Senate floor in an attempt to display the face of genocide. Photographs of scorched bodies, castrated men, dead children, and burned villages were provided to me by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. These photos do nothing less than display the cruel impunity of those committing genocide. The haunting reality is that the international community has failed on their promise of ``never again.'' The United Nations should take immediate steps to end this genocide and Kofi Annan should lead the Security Council to pass a strong, meaningful resolution that will immediately change the situation on the ground. There is no longer an excuse; we must call this what this is, and we must immediately act to prevent further pillaging and death. I have called on Annan several times to lead or leave. He should pass a resolution with mechanisms to see that the impunity ends and if he fails to do so, resign in moral protest at the international community's inaction and complacency. Our bill, the Darfur Accountability Act of 2005, calls for several key measures to be taken, including: a multilateral arms embargo to include the government of Sudan; a no fly zone; multilateral sanctions; targeted sanctions including travel bans and the freezing of assets of criminals; accelerated assistance to AU monitoring troops, and several other items that will secure a peaceful Darfur. I encourage my colleagues to join us in moving this bill through Congress. We do not have days or weeks to spare when millions of lives are in jeopardy. We cannot grant the government of Sudan and the janjaweed more time to execute the African tribes in Darfur. I look forward to working with Senator Corzine and other colleagues to see passage of this bill immediately.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I want to use most of my time to show some very graphic pictures of the face of genocide that is taking place in Darfur, Sudan. I wish I didn't need to do this. I wish the international community, particularly the United Nations, was acting so that something would take place to prevent this manmade genocide. But this genocide is occurring. It occurs while we are here today. It occurs in large numbers. Eric Reeves is probably the best documenter of Smith College. He estimates between 300,000 and 400,000 Darfurians have been killed in this genocide. I have been there. A number of Members have been there. Villages are being burned out by the Arab militia called Jingaweit. The African Union has not been in power to put in a sufficient number of troops or with enough authority to act to be able to stop this horror. What I am going to show on the floor are African Union monitors' pictures taken of people who have been killed and brutalized in western Sudan. They are graphic pictures. They are pictures of people who have been brutally killed in this genocide. My hope in showing this is that people will see the face of genocide and action will occur, specifically that the United Nations will take credible action. They have not. They have not taken credible economic action, political action, and they certainly haven't taken anything in the way of credible military action to stop this from occurring. These pictures come courtesy of Nichol Kristof of the New York Times, who wrote a February 23 article in which some of these pictures appeared titled ``The Secret Genocide Archive.'' In it, Kristof says: ``These are just four pictures in a secret archive of thousands of photos and reports that document the genocide currently underway in Darfur. The materials were gathered by African Union monitors, who are about the only people able to travel widely in that part of the Sudan.'' He goes on to say, ``The archive also includes an extraordinary document seized from a janjaweed official that apparently outlines genocidal policies. Dated last August, the document calls for the `execution of all directives from the president of the republic' and is directed to regional commanders and security officials. `Change the demography of Darfur and make it void of African tribes,' the document urges.'' I have yet to determine if that document has been verified, but understand that the State Department is analyzing it for authenticity, and certainly the actions taking place in Darfur today reflect those words. Finally, Mr. Kristof writes, ``I'm sorry for inflicting these horrific photos on you.'' Mr. Kristof, with all due respect, you need not apologize. It is the world community that needs to apologize for their complete inaction and indifference to this modern genocide. Over 6 months ago the U.S. Congress declared genocide, followed shortly thereafter with a similar declaration by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Failure to deem this genocide by the international community, which would force action, has led to death beyond measure and the threat of famine and disease that could wipe out many more thousands. Eric Reeves of Smith College reports, ``evidence strongly suggests that total mortality in the Darfur region of western Sudan now exceeds 400,000 human beings since the outbreak of sustained conflict in February 2003.'' The widely reported official number of deaths, recorded only since last March, is 70,000 and nearly 2 million displaced. To give you a frame of reference, the tsunami's death toll has been placed at around 200,000. We are talking here about 400,000 deaths in a manmade catastrophe--genocide--in Sudan. I ask my colleagues, and particularly the international community and the U.N.--and Kofi Annan in particular--how many more thousands of deaths does it take? Nichol Kristof provided me with additional pictures of the genocide in Sudan. I have these pictures for my colleagues to see, but due to their graphic nature, will not show all of them on television. I will describe each picture for my colleagues though, and would invite them to come and view these pictures in the cloakroom or in my office. The images tell a dark story of tragedy that continues to strike the villages of Darfur. The first picture shows a child who had his face beaten in, presumably with a rifle butt, in a massacre in Hamada in January. The next graphic photograph is of a man who was castrated and then shot in the head. This is a common fate of male prisoners taken captive by the janjaweed. Skeletons litter the ground of Darfur near the sites of massacres. The next photograph is from a massacre in Adwa in December, 2004. It's difficult to determine if this individual was burned or if the corpse's condition is a result of severe decay. It does appear as though this person's last moments were spent fleeing the attack. The next image is of a man who was one of 107 black Africans killed by Arabs in Hamada in the January massacre. These photographs, taken by African Union officials on the ground in Darfur, were slipped to Nichol Kristof of the New York Times. The next photograph is of a girl who was also killed in Hamada in January. The killers do not discriminate between male or female, children or adults. Another photo is of a more fortunate victim of the attack on Hamada in January. As she displays her injured arm, I can only help but think what kind of traumatic experience she endured and what psychological after-effects she will have to deal with for her entire life. Another young man did not make it out alive of the attack on Hamada. His blue flip-flops lay nearby. Finally, a skeleton, from an attack in Adwa in December, still has its wrists bound in this photo. The clothes were pulled down, suggesting that the person had been sexually abused before being killed. If it was a woman, she was likely raped; if it was a man, he was likely castrated. This is the face of genocide in the World today. The African Union troops and monitors on the ground have seen these atrocities with their own eyes. I am proud to say that the United States has supported the African Union's peacekeeping efforts on various fronts. To date, the U.S. has contributed over $40 million to the African Union. We have done so with hopes of securing an immediate end to the genocide and humanitarian crisis. Allowing the pictures and documents to remain buried away in a secret file will lend no immediate help to ending this crisis. However, we do believe that if these documents and photographs are made available to international actors including the United States, and other United Nations Security Council member states, we would see immediate action that could end the crisis and foster accountability. I urge the leaders of the African Union to release these documents and photos immediately and for the Government of Sudan to allow complete unimpeded access to the region in discussion. The last public report the African Union posted on their website was dated January 31, 2005. I have heard reports of rape and pillage since that time. The world community has watched as there have been numerous violations of last year's cease-fire agreement, including attacks aimed at killing innocent civilians and destroying villages. Unfortunately, aid groups have withdrawn from the region, and each day we run the risk of watching the current chaos spin out of control beyond imagination. Despite numerous bills and resolutions passed in the House and the Senate and several U.N. Resolutions, the international community has failed to act efficiently and effectively to end the crisis. On July 30, 2004, United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in 1556 calling on the government of Sudan to disarm the janjaweed militia and to provide unfettered access for humanitarian relief agencies. The resolution also imposed an arms embargo on ``nongovernmental entities and individuals'' in Darfur. Essentially, this arms embargo only embargoed the rebels and not the janjaweed who were receiving arms from the government of Sudan. In September, the Council passed Resolution 1564, calling on the government of Sudan to cooperate with an expanded AU force and threatened sanctions if the government failed to meet the Council's demands. We have seen no sanctions. Despite all of these actions, the Government of Sudan has not acted to end the violence against civilians, nor have they disarmed the janjaweed, or abided by cease-fire violations, including use of air power against civilians. In addition, reports indicate that the United Nations was undermining the cease-fire through agreements they were making with the Government of Sudan, including authorizing police forces and security forces to patrol IDP areas without approval from the AU Commission. Several weeks ago with my colleague Congressman Frank Wolf, I called on Kofi Annan to ``lead or leave.'' In other words, he should lead the Security Council to pass a strong, meaningful resolution, or he should resign in protest at the complacency of the world. The Commission of Inquiry began its three-month mandate on October 25, 2004. The report, which was leaked by the government of Sudan despite agreements with the U.N., has clearly been jaded by inside politics. I fear that we will continue to see lip-service without meaningful action. Somehow, the report has spawned a political debate over where to try the criminals and not on how to effectively and immediately provide security and end the crisis. We are simply buying time for the murderers in Sudan. The Report of the Commission of Inquiry makes clear the need for appropriate U.N. Security Council action. So it is in the best interest of all, especially the people of Darfur, to avoid protracted debate as to where the trial is taking place. The key is to stop the killing that is taking place in Sudan. The deployment of African Union peacekeeping troops must be accelerated and expanded immediately. With only 2,000 troops currently in Darfur, and plans for 3,300 total, we must provide the appropriate technical assistance to see that the numbers needed to effectively patrol Darfur are on the ground immediately. I believe that the United Nations should vote to immediately levy hefty and serious economic and diplomatic sanctions against the government of Sudan, the government-sponsored janjaweed, and any businesses or companies complicit through their government connections. We must insist upon an arms embargo against the Government of Sudan, travel restrictions of Sudanese government officials, and a freeze on the assets of companies controlled by the ruling party that do business abroad. Twenty months after the conflict in Darfur began, not one punitive measure has been imposed on the government of Sudan. It is time to act. As the United States, European Union, African Union, and others begin deciding what steps are next, my colleague Senator Corzine and I have decided to introduce a bill called the Darfur Accountability Act. This bill reiterates that the atrocities taking place in Darfur are genocide, it calls for sanctions in the UN Security Council. It also calls for accelerated assistance to the African Union force in Darfur, for the establishment of a military no-fly zone in Darfur, for an extension of the multilateral arms embargo to include the Government of Sudan, and it freezes the assets and property of criminals and denies visas and entry to them while also calling for a multilateral effort to do the same. In addition, it calls for a Special Presidential Envoy for Sudan, and states that the United States supports accountability through a competent international court of justice, and requires that the administration report to Congress on such efforts. I encourage my colleagues to join us in moving this bill through Congress. We do not have days and weeks to spare when millions of lives are in jeopardy. We cannot grant the Government of Sudan and the janjaweed more time to execute the African tribes in Darfur. I look forward to working with Senator Corzine and others to see passage of this bill. I hope these pictures will serve as a reminder to my colleagues that we must act to end this genocide. Members of this body have traveled to Rwanda and to Auschwitz to commemorate genocides of the past. We are doing no victims of genocide a favor by turning a blind eye to the atrocities in Sudan. Let these pictures and stories serve as a reminder of our responsibility to uphold dignity and human rights around the world. We need to act now. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Texas for her kind comments. I ran into a number of great troops from Texas, from Ft. Hood, TX, and individuals from Texas who are doing a fabulous job, putting their lives on the line and showing the definition of courage and honor. Those guys go right into the face of the fire, and when the fire fight comes when the bullets are flying, they are running towards the fire. It was really a beautiful modern-day story of courage under fire and of doing the right thing. That right thing is now yielding, in the last week, multiparty elections in Egypt. Mubarak has not stood for elections in 25, 30 years. It is going to do that. With a protest now taking place, the Lebanese Government has withdrawn and is asking Syria to withdraw and to allow democracy to flourish in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia had flawed local elections, but they at least had somewhat of an election. I met with officials in Iraq who are now discussing how to maintain a balance of power and an open society. The policies in Iraq are yielding enormous fruit--still difficult, still very fragile, but those soldiers who have put so much on the line are really changing the world. I thank my colleague from Texas for her support in that effort. What we are seeing taking place in that region is amazing. Our troops are in harm's way. We continue to see the number of improvised explosive devices about the same as they have in the past, although our number of wounded troops has gone down in the last 2 weeks about 40 percent, which is encouraging. That also means, apparently, that more of the attacks are directed at the Iraqis. We saw yesterday the horrific tragedy, over 100 Iraqis killed in a massive car bomb, that clearly the insurgency, much of it commanded and controlled out of other countries--and Syria has complicity of allowing some of this operation to take place--has to be pressured against that. But we have to get at that command and control structure of the insurgency and break that to be able to stop some of this incredible carnage that is taking place, people being killed in a country that just seeks to be free, seeks to be an open, fair society. It is difficult. In the early stages of democracy there will be flaws and missteps, but it is really changing the face of the region. I met with Prime Minister Allawi. I met with the head of the Kurdish group, and Shias, Dr. Joffee. Each is talking about bringing in the Sunnis, working together, creating an open society. I am concerned about the issue of the role of Islam in the constitution. That is clearly one of the key issues being negotiated.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I acknowledge the retirement of Arnold Schofield who is completing 25 years of service as site historian at Fort Scott National Historic Site, Fort Scott, KS. Completing a 43-year career in Federal service, he remains passionate about American cultural and military history. Arnold is highly respected for his extraordinary knowledge and his ability to bring history to life. Those fortunate to have heard his presentations throughout Kansas and the Midwest were left with a greater appreciation of the area's rich past and a desire to learn even more. For decades, Arnold was a familiar figure in Fort Scott's countless tourism efforts and became one of the region's most recognizable and appreciated figures. While the loss at Fort Scott National Historic Site will be significant, Arnold will continue his public service near Pleasanton, KS, as site administrator at Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site. He looks forward to the challenge of preserving, protecting and interpreting the site of the largest Civil War battle in Kansas and one of the largest cavalry engagements of the Civil War. He will take with him rich memories of his earlier service at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina. I welcome this opportunity to thank and congratulate Mr. Schofield on his retirement from over four decades of Federal service and extend to him our best wishes in his new position at Mine Creek Battlefield.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 9. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate begin a period for the transaction of morning business for up to 1 hour, with the first 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic leader or his designee and the second 30 minutes under the control of the Republican leader or his designee; provided that following morning business, the Senate resume consideration of S. 5, the class action bill, and upon reporting the bill, the pending amendment be set aside and Senator Pryor be recognized to offer an amendment.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, tomorrow, following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the class action fairness bill. Senator Pryor will offer an amendment on State attorneys general. We also have a Durbin amendment pending on mass actions. We hope to dispose of these amendments early tomorrow, and Members should plan accordingly. For the remainder of the day, we will continue to offer and debate amendments to the class action bill. Therefore, rollcall votes are expected throughout tomorrow's session. Just for the knowledge of Members, I know the leader intends to move this bill forward, getting it done this week. As has been stated during the debate, it is the hope to move this forward so the House can consider it and move it on to the President in as early a fashion as possible. This is a bipartisan bill with strong support. Not everybody agrees with it, obviously, but this is something we hope can move forward as soon as possible.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, we have a few other items to come before the body, but we are not quite prepared to bring those forward yet. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 45, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, at this time, there is no further business to come before the Senate. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 46, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, on a personal note, I knew Zurab Zhvania. I worked with him quite a bit. He was one of the original democracy advocates inside Georgia, a country that came out of the former Soviet Union, a wonderful man, with a great heart. He started out as an environmentalist. That is how he got active in the political system. He and Mr. Shevardnaze formed an alliance and moved the country toward democracy through a tumultuous time period. He was one of the lead architects of the Rose Revolution and democracy coming forward in Georgia. I cannot let this pass without noting what an incredible loss he is to Georgia. He would have been one of at least the top one to three people who make that country move to where it is today. They are suspicious circumstances under which he died--gas inhalation in an apartment. It appears to be natural causes, but there has been a lot of difficult political activity going on in Georgia--kidnappings and deaths that have taken place. I hope that was not the case. I have my own personal thoughts of him, and my sympathy goes out to his family--his wife and young children. He was 41 years old. He was a wonderful guy and he will be sorely missed in Georgia and around the world. I know his family will miss him dearly. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Class Action Fairness Act. It is the pending business before the body today. I want to spend a few minutes talking about this bill and talking about it in the context of some of the issues that the prior speaker has spoken about, the Senator from North Dakota, whom I have worked with on a number of issues over time. We agree on some issues; we disagree on some. We hopefully are going to be able to work together on a number of these issues. I view this bill as a chance for us to grow the economy, as a chance for us to do something to create jobs and opportunities. We may disagree on what are the various issues and what we need to do to create those jobs, to address issues for people who have lost work in a certain area, and to create them in another area. But what we are dealing with in this class action reform bill, this Class Action Fairness Act--I serve on the Judiciary Committee; we passed this bill out on a bipartisan vote in the Judiciary Committee--is to try to deal with the legal system that is putting too much burden on business so that it cannot create jobs here, and so then those jobs and economic opportunities go somewhere else. It was a bipartisan vote coming through the Judiciary Committee. If you look at the membership on that committee, you can see these are dedicated people from both sides of the aisle. But they look at this issue, and they say, here is a chance for us to reform a system, create growth and opportunity, create fairness within the country, within the system. That is the overall way we ought to be going. That is what we ought to be doing. That is why this is one of the lead substantive bills coming from the Senate right now. That is why we are hopeful of keeping it amendment free, so we can get it through the House, passed, and on to the President, so the American people can see some product, and they can see us dealing with a problem that they believe is there: too much litigation, litigation where it is not fair, litigation in ways that tend to help lawyers more than helping people--lawyers are people, but tending to help the lawyers who are bringing the case more than the people who are supposed to be attracted and dealt with in the case and in the class. The prior speaker spoke about a number of different problems we have. The budget deficit, clearly that is an issue. Clearly that is a problem for the country. Clearly, that is something the President puts down a mark to try to correct. I think the President is right on moving to cut the deficit in half in 5 years. I think we need to go further and balance in 7 years. Now, you say, well, wait a minute, how are you going to do that? We have done it before. We do it the same way the next time that we did it the last time; that is, you get the economy growing and sustain that growth in the economy. It kicks off a lot of receipts that way. Right now the economy is growing. It has started to move again. We have had some lethargic times, but it is growing, it is moving, it is creating jobs, and that creates receipts at the Government level--Federal, State, and local. That is starting to happen. The second piece of that equation is you have to restrain your growth of Federal spending. As your receipts go up, you cannot spend it at the same rate. You have to spend it at a slower rate. That is what the President is trying to do with this budget. He is saying, OK, if we can get this type of growth, we will have a slower rate of growth in the spending areas. You have to spend it in more prioritized areas. Clearly, the war on terrorism, homeland defense, key areas, and several others the President has identified, that is how we are going to get at the deficit. I don't agree with the whole budget document put forward. I do agree with the structure of the plan, that we get the deficit cut in half in five and, as I say, I believe we need to get it balanced in seven, so we can hand it over to the next generation in a balanced situation. One plug I want to put in is, a number of us put forward a bill previously to create an overall commission within the Federal Government to identify programs that maybe have accomplished their purposes and we need to go on and do something differently and zero out programs and to identify those that have accomplished their mission or are wasteful Government spending and propose to the Congress to zero them out, and then the commission give the Congress one vote on a whole package of bills. Maybe it is 53 total programs that need to be, maybe it is 253 that need to be eliminated. Give the Congress one vote to eliminate all of them, keep them all, unamendable, and by that means then us starting to cut at some of the wasteful spending, which we do, which takes place. We used this sort of structured program to get at our military bases where we had too many bases around the country, and we used this to get fewer bases and to get those bases the needed resources to serve our troops. I want to use the same model throughout the Federal Government. That is the way we can get at the budget. The previous speaker also spoke about Social Security. One of the problems he identified and that has been spoken about is that we run a surplus in Social Security and then that is spent in Government and then you borrow against the Federal Government for that. One of the beauties of creating personal accounts in Social Security is the Government can't spend that money. That is then the money of the individual, and there is actually something there, instead of this Government borrowing on one hand off of the Social Security account and on another hand. So that when we get to about 2013, we are no longer running a surplus in Social Security, we are running a deficit. And then the Government has to borrow in other places to pay Social Security. That is not a good situation. That is an untenable situation. That is not the sort of country or structure we want to turn over to our kids. That is why this need to look at personal accounts, so that the money is not spent, the money is safe. We get a higher rate of return. We get a rate of return on these funds. But our business at hand today is on the Class Action Fairness Act. This bill needs to pass. I believe it will pass. I believe it will pass with a substantial bipartisan vote. And the reason it will pass is we need this to reform this portion of our legal system. Class action lawsuits allow plaintiffs whose injuries might not be worth enough to justify bringing individual suits to combine their claims into one lawsuit against a common defendant. That is the nature of a class action. It is to try to create a more efficient and equitable distribution. Class actions are a valuable part of the legal system. However, some trial lawyers have found a weakness in the current system and developed a class action practice devoted to finding opportunities to, in some cases, extract payments from American businesses. Currently in diversity cases, where plaintiffs reside in different States, trial lawyers can forum shop. That means they can go to a place where they think they will get a better jury, they think they will get better treatment rather than fair treatment, or a setting where the parties actually reside. Once a class action is certified, they can force businesses into paying expensive settlements, so it becomes an extractive process that way. Due to this abuse in the system, injured plaintiffs are not getting the recourse they are supposed to get through class actions. It is documented that the legal system returns less than 50 cents on the dollar to the people it is established to help and only 22 cents to compensate for economic losses. Although injured plaintiffs are receiving little of value in class action settlements, unfortunately, we are seeing in too many cases trial lawyers obtaining large windfalls. I will give a couple of examples. One well-known example is the 2001 case against Blockbuster. Customers alleged they were charged excessive late fees for video rentals and received $1 coupons for the next trip to the video store, while their attorneys received over $9 million. That is a lot of videos. Similarly, in Shields v. Bridgestone/Firestone, a 2003 suit was filed for customers who had Firestone tires that were among those the Government investigated or recalled but who did not suffer any personal injury or property damage. After a Federal appeals court rejected class certification, they rejected certifying that this was a class, both sides negotiated a settlement which has received preliminary approval of a Texas State court. Under the agreement, the company is to redesign certain tires, a move already under way, irrespective of the lawsuit, and to develop a 3-year consumer education and awareness campaign. But the members of the class, the actual members of the class, the plaintiffs, received nothing. However, if the court gives final approval, the lawyers will get $19 million. Over the past decade, class action lawsuits have grown by over 1,000 percent nationwide, spurring a mass of these kinds of hasty, unjust settlements. This is because even if the class certification ruling is unmerited or even unconstitutional, it often cannot be appealed until after an expensive trial on the merits of the case. Facing the cost of litigation often forces defendants to settle out of court with sizable payments, even when the defendant will likely prevail under the law. These settlements have come to be known as a form of traditional blackmail and are problematic to all Americans because they make trial lawyers rich while imposing increased costs on the economy, causing lower wages and higher prices for consumers. They also create an environment of unpredictable litigation costs and serve to chill the investment, entrepreneurship, and the capital needed for job creation. In short, class action abuse shortchanges true victims while severely damaging the economic engines in this country. That is not to say all class actions are wrong, and this bill doesn't impact legitimate class actions. It basically deals with the issue of forum shopping. Class actions are still going to be brought. They still will be brought. They still need to be brought in this country. But you take away this issue, particularly this issue on forum shopping. In response to the growing crisis in class actions, Senator Grassley has authored the Class Action Fairness Act. It is a moderate, bipartisan approach that addresses the most serious of the class action abuses by allowing more large interstate class actions to be heard in Federal courts and by implementing a consumer class action bill of rights that protects consumers from some of the most egregious abuses in class action practice today. The bill is the result of a bipartisan compromise reached with Senators Dodd, Landrieu, and Schumer in the last session of Congress that narrowed the group of cases that would be removable to Federal court and added a Democratic provision put forward by the Democratic Members to build attorney's fees in coupon settlement cases. It is important to remember that this bill is merely court procedure reform that will go a long way to end abusive forum shopping. S. 5 does not alter substantive law at all or otherwise affect any injured individual's right to seek redress or to obtain damages. It does not limit damages, including punitive damages. It does not limit those. It does not impose stricter pleading requirements. Rather, the Federal courts will continue to apply the appropriate State or States' laws in adjudicating a class action suit. Some of the critics of this legislation have stated that S. 5 will move all class actions to the Federal courts, which will become clogged, resulting in a windfall for corporate defendants. The facts do not support this allegation. First, while S. 5 does expand Federal court jurisdiction over class action, the bill is drafted to ensure that truly local disputes will continue to be litigated in State court. Most notably, the bill will leave in State court class actions in which the plaintiffs and defendants are all residents of the same State, class actions with fewer than 100 plaintiffs, class actions that involve less than $5 million, shareholder class actions alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, any class action in which a State government entity is a primary defendant, and any class actions brought against a company in its home State in which two-thirds or more of the class members are also residents of that State. Secondly, the average State court judge is assigned three times as many cases as his or her Federal counterparts. State court judges are assigned, on average, about 1,500 new cases each year. For example, in California, the average judge was assigned 1,501 cases in 2001. In Florida, the average was 2,210. In New Jersey, the average was 2,620. In Texas, it was a little over 1,600 cases. In contrast, each Federal court judge was assigned an average of 518 new cases during the 12- month period ending September 30, 2002. The exponential growth of State court class action filings over the last decade has added to the workload problem of State court judges who, in many cases, unlike their Federal counterparts, do not have a number of law clerks, magistrate judges, or special masters to help with particularly time-consuming tasks involving supervising complex cases. Since many State courts or tribunals of general jurisdiction hear all sorts of cases, from traffic violations, to divorces, to felonies, judges who are distracted by class actions do not have enough time to focus on providing basic legal services for the community that they serve. Finally, recent surveys have shown that the majority of class actions in many jurisdictions would remain in State court under this bill. As far as those cases that could be heard in Federal court under S. 5, many of them involve copycat class actions filed in different jurisdictions, which Federal judges can consolidate under one judge. Therefore, moving more class actions to Federal court would actually reduce the burden for everyone. Ultimately, this bill will allow claims with merit to go forward while preventing judicial blackmail. That has become, unfortunately, something involved in our judiciary today. I urge my colleagues to vote a clean class action bill out of the Senate, to vote against any amendments that would dilute the bill and stop us from moving this reform forward, and that would help in job creation in the United States. This is a small measure. I think we should do more, but it is an appropriate measure. It moves us in the right direction. It helps in the creation of jobs in the United States and in litigation reform, which we desperately need in this country. These sort of bipartisan, modest steps, while they won't have perhaps as big a positive impact as we would like them to have, will have a positive impact on the judicial system and in helping us to reform that. That is something we need to do. We need to move forward on the budget deficit, we need to move forward to make sure we have a true trust fund in Social Security, and we need to move forward in litigation reform. All these are positive steps for our future. I hope we can continue, as with this bill, to work it forward on a bipartisan basis. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period for morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 45, and the bill be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the technical amendment that is at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 27, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, February 2. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and at 9:30 a.m. the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General, as provided under the previous order; provided that at 2:30 p.m. Senator Byrd be recognized for up to 1 hour.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General. A number of colleagues spoke on this nomination today, and we expect a full day of debate tomorrow as well. Under the agreement, we will alternate debate in 1-hour blocks throughout the day. Again, I encourage those Members who wish to speak on the Gonzales nomination to contact the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee as soon as possible. I also remind my colleagues the President's State of the Union Address will be tomorrow evening. Senators are asked to be in the Senate Chamber by 8:30 tomorrow night in order to proceed as a body to the House Chamber at 8:40 for the 9 o'clock address.

Mr. BROWNBACK

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.