mr. speaker , i rise in support of the protection of lawful commerce in arms act . 
i am an original cosponsor of the house version of this legislation , h.r. 800 . 
a lawsuit against a gun manufacturer simply for being a gun manufacturer has no business in american courts . 
i am proud that every court in our judicial system has agreed with that and has thrown out these frivolous lawsuits . 
however , in u.s. courts we have the american rule , where each side pays their own legal fees under normal circumstances , instead of the english rule , where the loser usually pays . 
generally , i support the american rule because it is fairer to individuals seeking relief from large firms . 
unfortunately the american rule can mean that frivolous lawsuits which have no chance of going anywhere still impose a terrible burden on parties . 
some people in this country are politically opposed to the firearm industry and believe most firearms should be illegal or hard to obtain . 
so these folks do not have a problem spending non-profit money and public money on a losing lawsuit in pursuit of ideology . 
however , that is not fair to the firearm industry , which is not only completely legal , but has the right to own their product enshrined in the u.s. constitution . 
therefore , it is particularly bad that the firearm industry has had to pay $ 200 million to defend themselves from frivolous lawsuits that have never , ever succeeded in court . 
s. 397 only protects legitimate businesses that comply with federal , state and local firearm laws . 
the bill does not waive liability for actually defective products , breach of contract or warranty , or other causes that are not related to third-party criminal misuse of firearms . 
if we are going to sue firearm makers for armed robberies , why not go on and sue the auto maker who made the get-away car ? 
the idea is absurd , but some groups and politicians want to punish firearm manufacturers for their very existence . 
as a result , we must pass s. 397 and send it to the president . 
