Washington, Dc, December 16--President George W. Bush pledged Wednesday to submit legal reform legislation to Congress that would cover asbestos and class-action lawsuits, as well as medical malpractice.
During his campaign for re-election, Bush spoke of what he saw as the high economic costs of frivolous lawsuits, but referred only to medical malpractice suits.
Bush made the comments during a two-day economic conference of business and government officials being hosted by the White House. He was participating in a panel discussion of the high costs of lawsuits in the economy.
"I am here to not only thank our panelists, but to make it clear as I possibly can that I intend to take a legislative package to Congress which says we expect the House and the Senate to pass meaningful liability reform on asbestos, on class action, and medical liability," Bush said.
"This is a priority issue not only for me but for a lot of people in the Senate," Bush said. "I am passionate on the subject."
Bush promised to highlight the subject in his State of the Union speech, an opportunity for the president to signal his top priorities to Congress and to the American people.
Bush said the legislation is needed because the U.S. is competing in a global economy, and the current legal system acts as a drag on the U.S.
"The cost of lawsuits, relative to countries that we compete against, are high," Bush said.
Bush pushed for medical malpractice reforms once before, but the legislation got bogged down in the Senate. The president referred to this by saying a small number of Senators have been responsible for tying up the legislation.
The panelists, who were handpicked by the White House, agreed with the president.
Bob Nardelli, the head of Home Depot Inc., said the class action lawsuit system creates to worst of all worlds by placing trial lawyers against businessmen.
"You've got deep pockets aligning with shallow principles," Nardelli said.
George Priest, a professor at Yale Law School, said if Bush succeeded in passing reforms on the three legal areas that he talked about, it would be a small but important step toward curbing legal abuses.
Priest argued a more important step would be to appoint judges who are willing to screen lawsuits on their merits.
