Forced Arbitration Concerns

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to announce that this week I am reintroducing the FAIR Act, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act.

Forced arbitration has been a concern of mine for some time because powerful corporations have stripped away Americans' right to have their day in court.

These forced arbitration clauses are everywhere. Americans sign away their rights when they buy a cell phone or sign an employment contract.

They are forced into arbitration, a private for-profit dispute resolution process that bans claimants from banding together and where the deck is stacked against the little guy.

That is why I have been championing this legislation since 2007, and momentum has shifted in our favor. Just last year, President Biden signed a law invalidating forced arbitration clauses in disputes about workplace sexual harassment and assault.

That is progress, but we have more work to do. We need to restore Americans' right to use the court system, and in doing so, reinvigorate important civil rights, employment, and consumer protections in this country.

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