mr. chairman , i rise today in support of h.r. 554 , the personal responsibility in food consumption act .  you may have heard about the overweight maintenance worker from new york , who sued mcdonald 's , wendy 's , burger king , and kfc for causing his two heart attacks and diabetes .  or the class-action lawsuit against mcdonald 's where the lawyers named children as the defendants .  these stories may sound funny , but the facts show these types of frivolous lawsuits bankrupt businesses , deplete pensions , gouge consumers and deprive americans with real complaints access to their day in court .  american consumers actually pay $ 1 , 200 more for goods and services every year because of lawsuit abuse .  studies also found that the cost of litigation accounts for one-third of the price of an 8-foot aluminum ladder , it doubles the price of a football helmet , it adds $ 500 to the sticker price of a new car , and increases the cost of a pacemaker by $ 3 , 000 .  we all end up paying a huge price for lawsuit abuse .  but perhaps the most potentially disastrous effect of frivolous lawsuits is the cost of american jobs .  american businesses are a consistent target of frivolous claims , which bleed the essential capital they need to create jobs .  and with such a lawsuit happy nation , many companies simply choose to pack up shop and move overseas .  at what point will we say enough is enough ?  at what point will we start supporting personal responsibility and stop supporting personal injury lawyers ?  options on a menu do not lead to obesity , but unhealthy habits do .  at what point are we going to stop the frivolous lawsuits from personal injury trial lawyers that are simply trying to make an easy buck off of overweight americans ?  mr. chairman , i urge all my colleagues to pass h.r. 554 .  let 's take a stand for personal responsibility and freedom .  let 's stamp out frivolous lawsuits .  let 's preserve the integrity of our judicial system , and let 's stop personal injury trial lawyers from ripping off american consumers .  