mr. chairman , i rise in support of h.r. 420 , the lawsuit abuse and reduction act , lara , and i oppose the substitute amendment . 
this bill , the underlying bill , continues the commitment of the house republicans to grow our economy , help small businesses , and put a stop to abusive lawsuits . 
this bill does that and will help millions of small businesses combat some of the worst abuses by frivolous lawsuits . 
in particular , lara would make mandatory the sanctions and monetary penalties under federal rule 11 of the federal rules of civil procedure for filing frivolous lawsuits and abusing the litigation process . 
or it would also abolish the free pass provisions that allow parties and their attorneys to avoid sanctions by withdrawing a suit within 21 days after a motion for sanctions has been filed . 
it would also permit monetary sanctions including reimbursement of reasonable attorneys ' fees and litigation costs in connection with frivolous lawsuits . 
it would extends rule 11 's provisions to include state cases in which the state judge finds the case substantially affects interstate commerce . 
frivolous lawsuits have discouraged and stifled american businesses long enough . 
the more we control lawsuit abuse , the stronger our businesses will be , and the more jobs will be created . 
this legislation protects the integrity of the judicial system by penalizing the bad actors in litigation , both plaintiffs and defendants , i might say . 
civil litigation was once a last-resort remedy to settle limited disputes and quarrels , but recent years have brought a litigation explosion . 
the number of civil lawsuits has tripled since the 1960s and has gripped the american citizens and small businesses with a fear of costly and unwarranted lawsuits . 
the threat of abusive litigation forces businesses to settle frivolous claims , rather than to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of defending lawsuits from the discovery process all the way to trial . 
this is , in essence , legal blackmail and needs to be ended . 
while it costs the plaintiff only a little more than a small filing fee to begin a lawsuit , it costs much more for a small business to defend against it , jeopardizing its ability to survive . 
lara tells those attorneys who are intent on filing a lawsuit to take the responsibility to review the case and make sure it is legitimate before filing , or be ready for sanctions . 
i would like to thank the gentleman from texas , the chairman of the subcommittee on courts , the internet , and intellectual property , for having prepared this legislation and moved it forward as he has . 
i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and oppose the substitute amendment . 
