Chamber urges Senate to vote to invoke cloture on S. 2062, the "Class Action Fairness Act"

July 8, 2004

TO MEMBERS OF THE U.S. SENATE:

On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region, I write to strongly urge you to vote to invoke cloture on S. 2062, the "Class Action Fairness Act" when that vote occurs.

The U.S. Chamber strongly supports the compromises reached late last year and memorialized in S. 2062. As pointed out in our earlier letters to the Senate on this legislation as well as during much of the debate on the bill this week, S. 2062 is a critically important piece of legislation that directly responds to the problems caused by abusive class action lawsuits in state courts where the rights of class members and defendants are frequently trampled. The Class Action Fairness Act is strongly supported by the entire business community and deserves to be enacted into law and not be derailed by extraneous issues unrelated to class action reform. At this point, the only way to accomplish that goal is for the Senate to invoke cloture.

Because of the importance of class action reform to consumers, businesses, and employees across the country, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly urges you to vote for cloture in favor of S. 2062, the Class Action Fairness Act. The Chamber will include this cloture vote on the Class Action Fairness Act as a key vote in its annual "How They Voted" ratings for 2004.

Sincerely,

R. Bruce Josten
Executive Vice President, Government Affairs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce