mr. chairman , i rise in opposition of h.r. 420 , the lawsuit abuse reduction act of 2005 .  this legislation runs roughshod over states ' rights , forcing state courts to enact onerous procedures and stripping states ' jurisdiction in certain cases .  this bill would also force restrictive venue provisions on all state courts , which essentially tells state courts they do not have jurisdiction over certain claims brought by its own citizens .  let state legislatures and state judiciaries set their own rules .  and , by the way , a frivolous , meritless lawsuit is damaging to the system and the offending parties should be punished .  this bill also protects foreign corporations at the expense of consumers in that it unfairly dictates to states where their citizens can enforce legal right against a corporation based outside of the united states .  while h.r. 420 allows a victim to file a claim in a court in his or her home state , because of existing jurisdictional rules that state may be unable to exercise power over the foreign corporation .  for example , a corporation in mexico sells cribs in the united states and those cribs are shipped to kansas and sold in nebraska .  the cribs turn out to be defective and one collapses on a baby in nebraska , killing it .  it may be impossible , under this proposed bill , for that nebraska family to file a lawsuit in nebraska .  the family may have to file the suit in kansas but would have to take the case to mexico under h.r. 420 .  i can not in good conscience support a bill preventing a family in this situation from filing a lawsuit in its own state .  