mr. speaker , i thank the chairman for yielding me time and for his leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor and for working with the senate to achieve the compromise that we need .  the gentlewoman from california ( ms. pelosi )  , the minority leader , called this an extreme republican measure .  apparently , she has not spoken to her own fellow san franciscan and senior senator from her state , dianne feinstein , who negotiated the compromise that has brought this legislation to the floor of the house , or to senator chuck schumer , also a member of the committee on the judiciary on the democratic side in the senate , or 16 other democratic senators who voted for this legislation .  she also apparently has not spoken to members of her own democratic caucus , many of whom have voted for this legislation in each of the last three congresses that have passed the house of representatives and many more of whom will vote for the legislation today .  a number of the folks who have spoken on the other side of the aisle criticizing the legislation have cited total inaccuracies about what the legislation will do .  the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. markey )  would not yield to me , but he said that the amerada hess case in new hampshire , with gasoline leaking into groundwater , would not be heard in the state court ; but if you live in new hampshire and you have gasoline leaking in your groundwater and virtually all of the plaintiffs are new hampshire residents , the case , under this bill , would be heard in the state courts .  some have mentioned the vioxx case against merck would be affected by this , and they have argued that senate 5 should be rejected because it will hurt consumers bringing vioxx cases against merck .  the truth , however , is that this legislation will have absolutely no effect on vioxx suits .  here is why : the majority of personal injury cases brought against merck are individual cases that would not be affected by the bill in any manner whatsoever .  these include more than 400 personal injury cases that are part of a coordinated proceeding in new jersey state court .  none of these cases will be affected by the bill because they are neither class actions nor mass actions .  now , what kind of cases would be affected by this legislation ?  well , let me show my colleagues how a select number of class action trial lawyers play the class action wheel of fortune .  how about the kay bee toys case where the lawyers got $ 1 million in attorneys fees and the consumers got 30 percent off selected products of an advertised sale at kay bee toys for one week .  or the poland spring water case where the lawyers got $ 1.35 million in the wheel of fortune and the consumers got coupons to buy more of the water that the lawyers were alleging was defective .  how about the ameritech case .  the price goes up , $ 16 million for those lawyers ; the consumers , $ 5 phone cards .  how about the premier cruise line case .  the lawyers got nearly $ 900 , 000 .  the consumers got $ 30 to $ 40 off of their next thousand dollar cruise , with a coupon to buy more of the product the lawyers were alleging was defective .  or the computer monitor litigation , $ 6 million in attorneys fees in a case alleging that the size of the computer screen was slightly off , and therefore , they were entitled to something .  what did the consumers get ?  a $ 13 rebate to purchase their next purchase .  how about the register.com case , $ 642 , 500 to the lawyers .  the consumers , $ 5-off coupons .  my favorite case , the case against chase manhattan bank , the lawyers got $ 4 million in attorneys fees , but the plaintiffs that allegedly the opponents of this bill are protecting , they got 33 cents .  here is one of the actual checks .  the catch was that at the time , to accept this 33-cent magnanimous check , they had to use a 34-cent postage stamp to send in the acceptance to get their 33-cent fee .  how about the case that president bush cited last week when he highlighted problems with this of the woman who had a defective television set against thompson electronics , found she had been made a member of a class action seeking redress of her grievances and many others against thompson electronics .  what did the lawyers get ?  $ 22 million in attorneys fees .  what did she get ?  a coupon for $ 25 to $ 50 off her next purchase of exactly what she did not want , another thompson electronics television set .  now , the gentlewoman from california , the minority leader , also cited the washington post .  let me tell my colleagues , the washington post has repeatedly endorsed this legislation , along with over a hundred other major newspapers , the washington post , the wall street journal , the financial times , christian science monitor , on and on the list goes .  and here is what the washington post said , and that is why we need to pass this legislation today .  the clients get token payments while the lawyers get enormous fees .  this is not justice .  it is an extortion racket that only congress can fix .  i urge my colleagues to pass the bill .  