Bobby Scott

Mr. SCOTT

Mr. SCOTT. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I would say to the gentleman if that is his interpretation, then the passage would do no harm to the bill and it ought to be adopted just to make sure.

Mr. SCOTT. If you are calling it a Federal question, then the passage of this amendment would have no effect in the gentleman's interpretation.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, in summary I think I do not want to get away from the point this is a decision a person has to make before they even have the nerve to come forward, and this is just one more barrier to scaring them and daring them to come forth and vindicate their rights in court.

Mr. SCOTT

Mr. SCOTT. If someone in good faith, if someone brings a good-faith lawsuit, they ought not be threatened in the way this loser pays threatens them if it is a close call, and you lost a close case, you not only lose your case, lose all you are putting into the case, you lose your house, lose your kids' education for having dared to come forward with a case that was meritorious, you just did not win. I do not agree with loser pays to put people into bankruptcy for having dared to come into court to vindicate their rights in good faith.

Mr. SCOTT. I would favor loser pays as a sanction against a frivolous lawsuit, but not against a meritorious law suit.

Mr. SCOTT. It is my understanding if you bring a frivolous lawsuit, then you can have attorneys fees assessed against you. I agree with that if it is frivolous. I am not supporting frivolous cases. A lot of cases that are not frivolous, it is a close call. You do not know the people are going to lie about the color of the red light, and you lose your case because of that. That is not a frivolous case.

Mr. SCOTT. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time to me. I just have a couple of comments to make. First is on the sanctions. Many plaintiffs bring the cases on a contingent fee. If you lose the case, if the lawyer brings such a case and does not win, whether it is frivolous or not, if he does not win he does not get paid a fee at all. That is certainly a sanction. If the case is, in fact, frivolous, the present law already provides significant sanctions. There have been recent improvements in that law, and we need to let them play out to make sure they work. There have been no complaints, or very few complaints, about the present law as it has been improved, and in terms of the loser pays, Mr. Chairman, that is a good sound bite but it is just not good sound policy. It will have the effect of denying the average citizen access to the courts. The corporations who are suing each other, obviously their attorneys fees can be a cost of business, if they are defending or bringing cases against individuals, it can be a cost of doing business. Our courts ought to be a place where citizens can have their rights vindicated and resolve those differences. If we have the loser pays, we are going to have a significant situation where the average citizen will not have access to the courts.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SCOTT. Reclaiming my time, that is not what it is.

Mr. SCOTT. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I say to the gentleman, ``We ought to point out, if we don't adopt the Berman-McHale amendment, it not only will apply to frivolous lawsuits, it will also apply to meritorious lawsuits, those that are not--but not as meritorious as you thought they were. You can win your suit. You can win, essentially prevail, but if you come in essentially just under the offer, then you will be beset with these draconian provisions. That is not right.''

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I just would point out, listening to the debate one would think that there was a requirement of plaintiffs to hire lawyers only with a contingency fee. You can hire lawyers on an hourly fee if you want to pay it. The plaintiff makes that choice. The plaintiffs are not complaining about their right to use a contingency fee or an hourly rate. Innocent defendants are not complaining because a contingency fee means those lawyers are not going to get paid at all. The only ones who are complaining are the defendants who are guilty of what they are charged.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to comment on some of the things we have heard. We have heard about this poker game people are going to have to play in order to figure out whether to settle or not to settle. Mr. Chairman, some of these cases are very difficult to evaluate. They are not know exactly what to settle for. Some people just want their day in court. Whatever happened to that? Mr. Chairman, we have heard a lot about what happens to people who are poor when they come to court. Let us talk about a middle-class person who happens to be just a regular homeowner, has a little money set aside for college education for the children, who has been ripped off in a real estate deal or been maimed in an automobile accident when they say they had the green light and the other side said they had the green light; your client knows that the light was green, but you do not know whether you can win that case or not when you discuss the case, whether to bring it with your lawyer, and he says, ``You have a 70 percent or 80 percent chance of winning, but there is a chance we might lose the case and you will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the other side for their attorney's fees for having brought the case that you thought that you were in the right;'' you are going to lose your house, you are going to lose the money you have set aside for the college education for your children. You are there in a position where you do not know whether or not you can even afford to take the chance, the outside chance, that you might lose the case. That is what this loser pays does. It discourages the bona fide cases for people to have their day in court, middle class, poor, or otherwise. It does not affect the corporations that can just put this as the cost of doing business. It affects the right of an average man or woman to have the courts mean what they say they mean, a place to vindicate your rights and to resolve disputes.

Mr. SCOTT. I will also acknowledge that you have to try the meritorious good suits and the frivolous suits under the same procedure, and people coming into a lawsuit do not know whether they are going to lose in many occasions, and ought not be, when discussing whether they are going to bring the suit or not----

Mr. SCOTT. I will acknowledge that your amendment in committee made the bill less worse than it is.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SCOTT. I would say the present law provides if people have a bona fide claim they want to bring to court, they have their rights they want vindicated, if they have been ripped off by a business, if they are trying to get money they loaned to somebody and they want to get it back, there are technicalities in the law they may not be able to get it back. Whatever the reason they are in court vindicating their rights, they ought to be able to come forward without having to bet their house and kids' education on the outcome. Mr. Chairman, I only have a short period of time, and all that I am asking, Mr. Chairman, is we not change this law, we not force people into a situation where they have to bet their house in order to get what they deserve. That is not right. This bill ought to be defeated. The courts are not only for those that can bet tens of thousands of dollars on the outcome, it is for average citizens that can come into court to vindicate their rights.

Mr. SCOTT

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I accept the idea that society ought to pay for societal policies. When the public wants a highway, it wants to enjoy the benefits of the highway, those who have to suffer by losing their land are compensated so that everyone else can enjoy the benefits of the public policy. If this bill is going to work, we have to acknowledge that no agency has in it the money for these reimbursements. When we again fund money for highway, we not only have money for the road itself but also in the appropriation enough money to fulfill expenses and condemnation as part of that budget. If this is going to be implemented, we have to have a budget from which these payments can be made. The Watt amendment, Mr. Chairman, provides that resource. Mr. Chairman, I would hope that this amendment would pass. Otherwise, the bill just cannot operate. I would ask, Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina to respond, if he would, to the question of how the judgments would be enforced if his amendment is not passed.

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Chairman, I finally say that as we pass future laws, we could include in those appropriations the money for reimbursement under this law as well as for the promulgation of the policy just as we do with highways. I would hope that his amendment would pass so that we could implement the law as soon as possible and not have to get into the situations as the gentleman from North Carolina has indicated. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Rose].

Mr. SCOTT

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House to this year's Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association [CIAA] basketball tournament. As we commemorate Black History Month, it is fitting to recognize and to celebrate this exciting event. We are all familiar with the Negro Baseball league and basketball greats such as Wilt chamberlain and Michael Jordan. However, when we talk about athletics and history, we cannot forget the CIAA. This year the CIAA, its players, its coaches, its supporters, and fans are celebrating its 50th anniversary. Beginning in 1946 with 16 teams, the CIAA has become one of the Nation's largest and most celebrated collegiate athletic conferences. In 1946 the CIAA tournament kicked off long traditions of both rivalry and sportsmanship. It was that year that Virginia Union and North Carolina Central University, then known as North Carolina College, came head to head in the tournament's championship game. It was that tournament and that championship game that started a legacy of comradery and competition that live on among players and fans today. But, Mr. Speaker, recognizing the CIAA tournament is not merely recognizing athletics, it is recognizing the importance of education. The CIAA represents a commitment to providing resources and education to athletes and other students. It is important for us to salute the 14 participating institutions, including the five from Virginia: Hampton University, Virginia State University, Norfolk State University, Virginia Union University, and St. Paul's College. These institutions, like many other historically black colleges and universities, not only offer athletics but most importantly, they provide top-notch, world-class educations. With that in mind, I salute the coaches, past and present, who have developed high-caliber players and students. Coaches like Talmadge ``Marse'' Hill of Morgan State, Harry R. ``Big Jeff'' Jefferson of Virginia State, and Chet Smith of St. Paul's College who worked together to bring us the first CIAA and the 50 exciting years of play- by-play action that has followed. We also cannot forget Clarence ``Bighouse'' Gaines, an assistant coach at the 1946 conference, who has gone down in history as the head coach of Winston-Salem State University and as the coach with the most wins in the CIAA. It goes without saying that the student athletes are what make the CIAA so great. Bob Dandridge and Earl Monroe were outstanding CIAA players before they joined the ranks of the NBA. In 1946, players like Rubert ``Rupe'' Johnson, Howard Bessett, Elmer ``Big Daddy Mac'' McDougal, Robert ``Skull'' Hering, Thornton Williams, and Jim Dilworth, who was named the 1946 MVP, ignited the heart stopping, hoop-to-hoop action that lives on today. If you have ever had the pleasure of attending a CIAA tournament, you know that the fans, friends, and supporters of the tournament and the league are dedicated and committed to CIAA basketball. These are the kinds of fans who not only cheer on players and students; they bring an arena alive. cheerleading and entertaining antics, CIAA supporters and fans have helped expand the CIAA from its meager $500 starting budget to a tournament that today generates approximately $7.5 million for the host city's economy. They, along with the coaches and players, make the CIAA the hottest--sold out--ticket in town. Mr. Speaker, I, along with the many alumni, fans, and supporters, look forward to this year's 50th anniversary CIAA tournament in Winston-Salem, NC, taking place this week and to many successful years to come.

Mr. SCOTT

Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York and the gentleman from Ohio for organizing this special order on Black History Month. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call the attention of the House to Black History Month. As I reflect on the importance of this celebration I am reminded of the commitment of Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, and Booker T. Washington to bettering their communities and the Nation. Like many other men and women, these individuals spent their lives fighting for equality and opportunity for all of America's citizens. While each differed in his approach, each one of these men recognized and utilized education as a vital tool in their efforts. They recognized that education is essential to freedom. Frederick Douglass, while culminating a life of service and struggle in 1895, epitomized a commitment to education and scholarship. We should all be familiar with the story that Douglass tells of his efforts to learn to read and write. Nor can we forget his lifelong commitment to providing the same skills and opportunities to his peers both as an orator and as a crusader against slavery. Ultimately, Frederick Douglass recognized that education is necessary in order to obtain both freedom and equality. Like Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, a graduate of Fisk University and the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, also exemplified the importance of education and national progress. Not only was Dr. Dubois committed to his personal scholarship, he spent his life providing research and education resources to African-Americans nationwide. As a founding father of the NAACP, DuBois provided the Nation with the Crisis magazine, which continues today as the literary arm of the NAACP. In addition, he taught at both Wilberforce and Atlanta University. Booker T. Washington, much like Dubois and Douglass, also made education a paramount part of his work and life. As the proud graduate of Hampton University, which is located in my district, Mr. Washington sought to provide access and resources to communities that were disadvantaged and disenfranchised. Believing that education would assist in achieving economic equity, Booker T. Washington founded Tuskeegee University in 1881. Recognizing the legacy of education that these men have given us, we are charged with no less of a commitment to education today. It is our responsibility to ensure that each American has access to a quality education. We must support and defend those institutions and programs that make such access and equity possible. Keeping that in mind, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the 103 historically black colleges and universities [HBCU's] that are currently working tirelessly to provide education to students nationwide. In particular, I would like to recognize Mr. Washington's alma mater, Hampton University, as well as Norfolk State University, Virginia Union University, St. Paul's College, and Virginia State University which have graduated many of our Nation's leaders and continue to serve the residents of Virginia and the Nation as a whole. As we celebrate Black History Month and recognize HBCU's, I must also acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association [CIAA] basketball tournament that is being celebrated this week. The CIAA is the Nation's largest African-American athletic association. Mr. Speaker, education continues to be essential to freedom as well as to individuals, institutions, and organizations I have mentioned help create and continue the legacy of the brave men and women whose lives and contributions we commemorate through Black History Month celebrations.