Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2005 - Prohibits new and dismisses pending civil actions by any person against a manufacturer, marketer, distributor, advertiser, or seller of food or a trade association for any injury related to a person's accumulated acts of consumption of food and weight gain, obesity, or any associated health condition, excluding actions alleging: (1) a breach of express contract or express warranty provided that the grounds of recovery are unrelated to a person's weight gain, obesity, or related health condition; (2) a knowing violation of a federal or state statute applicable to the marketing, advertisement, or labeling of food with intent for a person to rely on that violation, where such person relied on that violation, and where such reliance was the proximate cause of injury related to that person's weight gain, obesity, or related health condition; or (3) a violation brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the Federal Trade Commission Act or by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Requires in any excluded action: (1) a stay of discovery during the pendency of any motion to dismiss, unless necessary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue prejudice; and (2) evidence preservation during the stay. Requires the complaint in such an action to plead with particularity for each defendant and cause of action: (1) each element of the cause of action and the specific facts alleged to satisfy each element of the cause of action; (2) the federal and state statutes that allegedly create the cause of action; and (3) the exception under this Act that is being relied upon and the specific facts that allegedly satisfy the requirements of that exception.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 554 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 554
To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being usurped by
civil liability actions brought or continued against food
manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade
associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain,
obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or
obesity.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 2, 2005
Mr. Keller (for himself, Mr. DeLay, Mr. Blunt, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr.
Sensenbrenner, Mr. Ney, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Garrett of New
Jersey, Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr.
Hensarling, Mr. Foley, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Ms. Ginny Brown-
Waite of Florida, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Carter, Mr. Smith of
Texas, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Pence, Mr. Simpson, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Akin, Mr.
Norwood, Mr. Otter, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire, Mr. Cox,
Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Mack, Mr. Calvert, Mr.
Petri, Mr. Kirk, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Mr. Green of Wisconsin,
Mr. McHugh, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Peterson of
Pennsylvania, and Ms. Berkley) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being usurped by
civil liability actions brought or continued against food
manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade
associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain,
obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or
obesity.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Personal Responsibility in Food
Consumption Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to allow Congress, State legislatures,
and regulatory agencies to determine appropriate laws, rules, and
regulations to address the problems of weight gain, obesity, and health
conditions associated with weight gain or obesity.
SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF SEPARATION OF POWERS.
(a) In General.--A qualified civil liability action may not be
brought in any Federal or State court.
(b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--A qualified civil liability
action that is pending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall
be dismissed immediately by the court in which the action was brought
or is currently pending.
(c) Discovery.--
(1) Stay.--In any action of the type described in clause
(i) or (ii) of section 4(5)(B), all discovery and other
proceedings shall be stayed during the pendency of any motion
to dismiss unless the court finds upon motion of any party that
particularized discovery is necessary to preserve evidence or
to prevent undue prejudice to that party.
(2) Responsibility of parties.--During the pendency of any
stay of discovery under paragraph (1), unless otherwise ordered
by the court, any party to the action with actual notice of the
allegations contained in the complaint shall treat all
documents, data compilations (including electronically recorded
or stored data), and tangible objects that are in the custody
or control of such person and that are relevant to the
allegations, as if they were the subject of a continuing
request for production of documents from an opposing party
under applicable Federal or State rules of civil procedure, as
the case may be. A party aggrieved by the willful failure of an
opposing party to comply with this paragraph may apply to the
court for an order awarding appropriate sanctions.
(d) Pleadings.--In any action of the type described in section
4(5)(B)(i), the complaint initiating such action shall state with
particularity the Federal and State statutes that were allegedly
violated and the facts that are alleged to have proximately caused the
injury claimed.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Engaged in the business.--The term ``engaged in the
business'' means a person who manufactures, markets,
distributes, advertises, or sells a qualified product in the
person's regular course of trade or business.
(2) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means, with
respect to a qualified product, a person who is lawfully
engaged in the business of manufacturing the product in
interstate or foreign commerce.
(3) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual,
corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society,
joint stock company, or any other entity, including any
governmental entity.
(4) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product''
means a food (as defined in section 201(f) of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(f))).
(5) Qualified civil liability action.--(A) Subject to
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the term ``qualified civil liability
action'' means a civil action brought by any person against a
manufacturer or seller of a qualified product, or a trade
association, for damages, penalties, declaratory judgment,
injunctive or declaratory relief, restitution, or other relief
arising out of, related to, or resulting in injury or potential
injury resulting from a person's consumption of a qualified
product and weight gain, obesity, or any health condition that
is associated with a person's weight gain or obesity, including
an action brought by a person other than the person on whose
weight gain, obesity, or health condition the action is based,
and any derivative action brought by or on behalf of any person
or any representative, spouse, parent, child, or other relative
of any person.
(B) Such term shall not include--
(i) an action in which a manufacturer or seller of
a qualified product knowingly and willfully violated a
Federal or State statute applicable to the
manufacturing, marketing, distribution, advertisement,
labeling, or sale of the product, and the violation was
a proximate cause of injury related to a person's
weight gain, obesity, or any health condition
associated with a person's weight gain or obesity; or
(ii) an action for breach of express contract or
express warranty in connection with the purchase of a
qualified product.
(C) Such term shall not be construed to include an action
brought under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et
seq.) or the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
301 et seq.).
(6) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means, with respect to a
qualified product, a person lawfully engaged in the business of
marketing, distributing, advertising, or selling a qualified
product in interstate or foreign commerce.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' includes each of the several
States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
and any other territory or possession of the United States, and
any political subdivision of any such place.
(8) Trade association.--The term ``trade association''
means any association or business organization (whether or not
incorporated under Federal or State law) that is not operated
for profit, and 2 or more members of which are manufacturers,
marketers, distributors, advertisers, or sellers of a qualified
product.
<all>
The Speaker designated the Honorable Candice S. Miller to act as Chairwoman of the Committee.
GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 554.
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 494, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Sensenbrenner amendment.
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 449, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Jackson-Lee amendment.
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Jackson-Lee amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Ms. Jackson-Lee demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 449, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Filner amendment.
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Filner amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Filner demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 449, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Scott (VA) amendment.
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POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Scott (VA) amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Sensenbrenner demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 449, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Waxman amendment.
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Waxman amendment, the Chair put the question on adoption of the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the noes had prevailed. Mr. Waxman demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on the question of adoption of the amendment until later in the legislative day.
UNFINSHED BUSINESS - The Chair announced that the unfinished business was the question of adoption of amendments which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.
The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 554.
The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule. (consideration: CR H8939)
The House adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 306 - 120 (Roll no. 533).
Roll Call #533 (House)On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 306 - 120 (Roll no. 533).
Roll Call #533 (House)Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 254.