mr. speaker , that pig may have lipstick , but i can tell my colleagues that it is still pretty unattractive . 
it is interesting that my good friend from virginia keeps talking about coupons and this 30 cents . 
what he is not telling those of us who understand what class action settlements really mean is that in the settlement comes the punishment for not doing or the incentive to not violate the law again . 
in the settlement comes an injunction that argues or stops the culprit , the violator , from doing harm again . 
there is an action . 
class actions do not always generate into dollars to petitioners . 
if you have been done harm , you want that harm to stop immediately so someone else can not be harmed . 
and the class action lawsuit and the so-called millions of dollars to attorneys for attorneys fees does not take into account the preparation for that case , the depositions , the travel . 
so it looks as if there is a great bounty or a gift being given to lawyers who are working to ensure that the punitive entity , the entity that has caused thousands of employees to lose pensions from corporations , the entity such as mci and others who have thrown away their corporate responsibility to their employees and caused them to lose all their money , who violated corporate laws and had the violation of trust and made sure that they did the self-dealing , these class actions were to say `` and do that no more , '' and `` we will not allow you to do that anymore. '' for example , the particular amendment that is included in the conyers-nadler-jackson-lee substitute , which i rise enthusiastically to support , the tax traitor corporation which leaves america and incorporates somewhere else and depletes all of its savings accounts , or all of its accounts , so therefore if there is an action , if you are harmed , if you are hurt and you sue here in the united states , you look up in the court and you find out there is empty pockets . 
why ? 
because they have overcome the laws of this land . 
they have absconded and you have no way of seeking relief . 
the substitute includes the relief that is necessary to ensure that citizens and consumers are protected . 
there is a civil rights carveout , so that you have a right to address your grievances without the expenses of a federal court . 
there is a wage and hour carveout , so that you can file against a company in your local jurisdiction as a class action when you have been violated on the minimum wage . 
physical injuries , so that when your child is injured in a park because of a defective product you have the right to go into your state courts and seek relief . 
now , i want to share with those who feel that we are now opening the doors of opportunity with the federal courts . 
let me share this with you . 
this is why this is a bogus litigation or legislation that will not work . 
arizona has 159 state judges , only 13 federal courts . 
tell me the difference in being able to go into a court that has 159 judges versus those who have 13 . 
what about the state of south carolina , with 48 state judges and merely 10 federal judges ; or rhode island with 22 state judges and three federal judges ; new york with 593 state judges and a mere 52 federal courts ; louisiana , 211 state judges and 22 federal courts ? 
frankly , there is a farce going on here . 
at the end of the 108th congress there were 35 judicial vacancies in the federal courts . 
there is no opportunity to go into the federal courts . 
they are overburdened and overworked . 
justice rehnquist said something very important . 
he said , `` i have criticized congress and the president for their propensity to enact more and more legislation which brings more and more cases into the federal court system . 
this criticism received virtually no public attention . 
if congress enacts and the president signs new laws , allowing more cases to be brought into the federal courts , just filling the vacancies will not be enough . 
we need additional judgeships. '' this is a farce , i am saddened to say , even with the compromise . 
we all want to see the judicial system work . 
i know my good friend from virginia has good intentions , but this responds to a noncrisis with no resources , no added courts to the federal bench , and the backlog of cases all over america simply slams the door to injured parties across this land . 
the substitute is fair . 
it allows you to go into the state courts that have a bounty of judges , allows you to be heard , and it allows those corporate offenders or those products that have offended and harmed and maybe killed , those defective automobiles , to be in the courthouse and to have their concerns heard . 
mr. speaker , i rise in opposition to this bill , s. 5 , the class action fairness act . 
unfortunately for the millions of aggrieved plaintiffs in america with legitimate claims , this body has brought yet another piece of legislation to the floor that threatens to close the doors of the court . 
this bill , despite its name , is not fair to all complainants who come to the courts for relief . 
in addition , it fails to render accountability to parties who are in the best financial position . 
one issue that i planned to address by way of amendment was that of punishing fraudulent parties to class action proceedings by preventing them from removing the matter to federal court . 
i am a co-sponsor of the amendment in nature of a substitute that will be offered by my colleagues . 
with the provisions that it contains , requirements for federal diversity jurisdiction will not be watered down resulting in the removal of nearly all class actions to federal court . 
a wholesale stripping of jurisdiction from the state courts should not be supported by this body . 
therefore , it needs to be made more stringent as to all parties and it needs to contain provisions to protect all claimants and their right to bring suit . 
contained within the amendment in nature of a substitute is a section that i proposed in the context of the terrorist penalties enhancement act that was included in the bill passed into law . 
this section relates to holding `` tax traitor corporations '' accountable for their terrorist acts . 
with respect to s. 5 , the right to seek removal to federal courts will be precluded for tax traitor corporations . 
the `` tax traitor corporation '' refers to a company that , in bad faith , takes advantage of loopholes in our tax code to establish bank accounts or to ship jobs abroad for the main purpose of tax avoidance . 
a tax-exempt group that monitors corporate influence called `` citizen works '' has compiled a list of 25 fortune 500 corporations that have the most offshore tax-haven subsidiaries . 
the percentage of increase in the number of tax havens held by these corporations since 1997 ranges between 85.7 percent and 9 , 650 percent . 
this significant increase in the number of corporate tax havens is no coincidence when we look at the benefits that can be found in doing sham business transactions . 
some of these corporations are tax traitor corporations because they have given up their american citizenship ; however , they still conduct a substantial amount of their business in the united states and enjoy tax deductions of domestic corporations . 
the provision in the substitute amendment will preclude these corporations from enjoying the benefit of removing state class actions to federal court . 
forcing these corporate entities to defend themselves in state courts will ensure that these class action claims will be fairly and fully litigated . 
mr. speaker , s. 5 applies not only to class actions but to all tort cases . 
it is highly inefficient to overwhelm the federal courts with the massive number of state claims that will come their way . 
not only are the federal courts less sympathetic to this kind of litigation , the practical effect will be that many cases will never be heard . 
the barriers to gaining federal jurisdiction to have a case heard is much higher than in state courts by virtue of their creation . 
as a result , the federal courts will be quick to refuse class certification in complex litigation matters . 
state courts are better suited to adjudicate complex class actions . 
i oppose this legislation and urge my colleagues to join me . 
mr. speaker , i ask my colleagues to vote for the substitute and defeat the underlying bill . 
