mr. chairman , i am pleased that chairman sensenbrenner has included in the manager 's amendment two provisions that i offered in the judiciary committee markup of the bill , and i thank the chairman for his support . 
the first amendment included in the manager 's amendment provides for mandatory sanctions for destroying documents relating to a court proceeding . 
delays during litigation provide ample opportunities for wrongdoers to destroy incriminating documents . 
because this can result in the complete inability to hold these defendants accountable for their wrongful acts , parties who knowingly destroy relevant and incriminating documents should be severely sanctioned . 
secondly , the second amendment bans the concealment of unlawful conduct when the interests of public health and safety outweigh the interest of litigating parties in concealment . 
very often in civil litigation , a company producing an unsafe product or an unsafe procedure will settle with the plaintiff . 
the settlement will include a payment of a sum to the defendant , but will also often include an agreement that the records will be sealed and no one will ever talk about it . 
that is the condition that the defendant company puts on it . 
so the defendant pays the money , the plaintiff gets the settlement , everybody keeps quiet . 
but meanwhile , hundreds of thousands of people may continue to be injured by that product in the future . 
the defendant company forces the plaintiffs never to discuss the problems with anyone else , no one knows about it , and more people keep getting hurt because the product remains on the market . 
when it comes to public health and safety , people must have access to information about an unsafe product , not only to protect themselves but also to serve as a deterrent against companies that may continue to place the public in harm 's way . 
secrecy agreements should not be enforced unless they meet stringent standards to protect the public interest and the public health . 
this amendment prevents this harmful practice . 
the amendment says that an agreement to keep a settlement secret , the terms and conditions of settlement secret , can not be approved by the court unless the court determines that the interests of the parties in secrecy , perhaps legitimate interests outweigh the interests of the public in knowledge of whatever it is . 
if the court so determines , the court can order the secrecy upheld . 
but if the court determines that the interest and the public knowledge outweigh the secrecy , then the court must say that and disapprove the concealment agreement . 
i support the manager 's amendment because it includes these two amendments and other good ideas . 
but these changes are not enough for me to support final passage of what is still an egregious bill . 
again , i would like to thank chairman sensenbrenner for working together in addressing these issues . 
i believe the manager 's amendment provides some positive changes in what is otherwise an egregious bill . 
i urge my colleagues to vote for the manager 's amendment , but against the final bill . 
mr. chairman , i yield back the balance of my time . 
