mr. speaker , i yield myself the balance of the time . 
mr. speaker , notwithstanding what we have heard from opponents of this legislation , its passage would not extinguish the legal right of any injured party , whether it be a class action , a mass action , or an individual lawsuit from proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction in the united states . 
what the bill does do is it puts some sense into the class action system so that the members of the plaintiff 's class will be fairly and adequately compensated rather than seeing all of their gains go to attorneys and them just getting coupon settlements from the people who have allegedly done them wrong . 
i was particularly perturbed listening to the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. markey ) xz4002530 , who said that the kids who start smoking at 13 and 14 years old are going to be denied their day in court , and that the tobacco companies are going to end up cashing in on a big bonanza . 
well , i had my staff , while this was going on , look at what has happened to altria , the parent company of philip morris . 
since the other body passed this bill , altria stock has gone down by at least $ 1.50 , or 2 percent . 
and today , the reuters story that came out less than an hour ago says that the dow has been dragged down by altria . 
now , if this was the bonanza to investors in altria , the stock would not be going down . 
it is not . 
that is a fallacious argument . 
reject the substitute and pass the bill . 
