madam speaker , i thank the chairman very much for yielding . 
madam speaker , the general principles behind s. 5 and many of the provisions in the legislation are similar to those in h.r. 1115 , which the house passed in 2003 , and s. 274 , which was voted out of committee in the senate in 2003 but did not ultimately pass . 
to the extent these provisions are the same , the house committee on the judiciary 's report on h.r. 1115 and the senate committee on the judiciary 's report on s. 274 reflect the intent and understanding of the committee and the sponsors as to the import of these provisions . 
however , there are several new provisions in s. 5 regarding federal jurisdiction over class actions that were not included in prior versions of the legislation . 
i would like to ask my colleague , the chairman of the committee on the judiciary , to provide an overview of the jurisdictional provisions in the legislation , and i would like to discuss the various exceptions included in the legislation and the intent of the sponsors with regard to these exceptions . 
