mr. chairman , i thank my good friend from new york for yielding me the time .  mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 420 , legislation that would have a chilling effect on a plaintiff 's ability to seek recourse in court .  as i have listened to my colleagues on the floor talk about three-strikes-and-you-are-out with regard to a counsel , you would think this was a criminal situation .  they took discretion away from judges with mandatory sentencing .  they said , judge , no matter what the facts are of the case , if this is the penalty , then you impose such penalty .  what is very interesting is , even though my colleague cited john kerry , john edwards , president bush , and the judiciary committee , not one of them have sat as a judge in a case , making decisions about rule 11 cases .  i am proud to say that i served as a judge for 10 years in the trial court in the state of ohio and have had the ability to review complaints , review discovery decisions , review pleadings .  and judges should be vested with the same discretion they are vested with in other situations and not be subjected to this rule 11 sanctions piece that is being proposed by this legislation .  it is unconscionable that the claim that businesses get on with more business or they can hire more employees , to use that to play against the ability of a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit .  what is going to make business do better in the united states of america is this country having a policy that encourages business .  what is going to make people work better in the united states of america is having greater opportunity for business , and you can not blame business not doing well on lawsuits , just as you can not blame doctors running all over creation because of medical malpractice .  i encourage all of my colleagues to take a close look at what this legislation will do , to take a close look and listen to the arguments that are being made by my colleagues with regard to this legislation , and vote in opposition to h.r. 420 .  