January 13th, 2005

President Bush has called a meeting at the White House and has urged for action to be taken on the curbing of class action lawsuits, such as asbestos. He has asked lawmakers to move swiftly on changing litigation with regards to class action lawsuit because of the damage being caused to the economy and to industry. The aim is to reduce costly litigation that costs billions of dollars every year.

"Class-action lawsuits have become a problem in the United States. The judicial system is not fair. It is unbalanced, it is tilted," said President Bush. "And members around this table understand that, and members around this table are willing to set aside their political party to do what is right for worker and business owner alike," he added, as he met with both Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate.

With a strong republican victory in recent elections, President Bush is confident that legislation to curb lawsuits and class-action claims will be moved swiftly on. "It is very possible that a good piece of legislation can move quickly this year out of both the Senate and the House, get it to conference quickly and get it to my desk quickly, to show the American people that both parties are willing to work together to solve problems," he said. "We have a problem with class-action lawsuits. It is a problem that we all recognize, and it's a problem we intend to fix."