mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume , and i thank the gentleman from georgia ( mr. gingrey ) xz4001510 for yielding me the customary 30 minutes . 
mr. speaker , for years the republican majority proposed so-called `` reforms '' to class action lawsuits . 
time after time , the house would pass legislation limiting class action plaintiffs only to see their attempts to dismantle the class action system die either with senate inaction or in conference . 
mr. speaker , it looks as though the republican leadership has finally gamed the system to the point where it appears that they will succeed in severely limiting the rights of many of the most vulnerable citizens in this country . 
dismantling the class action lawsuit system has long been a big priority for big business groups . 
last year , for instance , the chamber spent $ 50 million in lobbying . 
now they are getting what they paid for , because this bill obliterating the class action system is one of the first bills to be considered in this congress . 
mr. speaker , it is clear to me that despite the mccain-feingold campaign finance reform law , we still have a pay-to-play system . 
the other body considered this bill first . 
the plan was that the house take up the senate bill if the other body could pass a clean bill without any amendments . 
the senate succeeded in passing a bad bill and the house is now following suit . 
let me be clear . 
despite the rhetoric on the other side , this is still a bad bill . 
today , the other side will tell scary stories about greedy trial lawyers and how awful and unfair their practices are , but the republican leadership will not talk about how this bill limits the rights of low-wage workers to seek justice from employers who have cheated them out of their wages or have discriminated against them . 
they will not talk about how they are limiting workers ' rights and , with the passage of this bill , are encouraging the bad apples in the big business community to continue cheating their employees out of their hard-earned wages and rights . 
in most cases , state laws provide greater civil rights protections than federal law . 
every state has passed a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability . 
some states have laws that go beyond the federal americans with disabilities act . 
the same is true with age discrimination . 
there are also states that provide protections that are not covered by federal law . 
these federal laws are intended to be floors , not ceilings . 
we should commend states that extend further rights to their citizens , not punish them . 
this bill federalizes class action and mass torts , moving these cases from state to federal courts . 
if the bill is signed into law , hard-working americans will be denied the right to use their own state courts to bring class actions against corporations that violate laws that are unique to their state . 
consider , for example , a class action lawsuit brought against a national corporation by employees of a store in massachusetts because that store discriminates on the basis of ancestry , place of birth , or citizenship status . 
massachusetts provides protections afforded by state law , but not by federal law . 
under this bill , except in very rare instances , that case would be sent to a federal court instead of state court , even though the case is based on a violation of state law . 
a class action lawsuit against wal-mart was recently filed in massachusetts . 
the suit alleges that wal-mart failed to pay employees for the time worked and did not give them proper meal and rest breaks . 
these are serious charges . 
if the class action fairness act is signed into law , future cases like this would not be tried in massachusetts court , but instead would be transferred to federal court . 
mr. speaker , we know that the federal courts are already over burdened , but we also know that the federal courts are less likely to certify classes or provide relief for violations of state law . 
in effect , this bill is rigging the system on behalf of the corporations and against the interests of workers . 
we often hear a lot of lofty rhetoric on the other side about states rights . 
apparently the other side only supports the rights of states if they agree with the laws of those states . 
mr. speaker , this bill is opposed by the leadership conference of civil rights ; the alliance for justice ; the national conference of state legislatures ; 14 state attorneys general ; afscme ; and environmental groups like friends of the earth , greenpeace , the sierra club , and the national environmental trust . 
these are just a few of the groups who oppose this bill , and none of them represent the trial lawyers . 
they oppose this bill because it will limit fairness , it will limit justice , and it will ultimately hurt everyday americans . 
mr. speaker , this is not about trial lawyers ; it is about average citizens . 
the opponents of this bill are committed to fairness . 
we are committed to justice . 
and this bill robs the american people of their rights to fairness and justice in the judicial system . 
it closes the courthouse door in the face of people who need and deserve help . 
i oppose this bill , and i urge my colleagues to support the conyers substitute . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
