Bush again decries 'frivolous litigation'

WASHINGTON - President Bush renewed his campaign against what he considers abuses of the legal system Saturday, returning to a longtime interest that remained mostly sidelined during the first two years of his presidency.

In his weekly radio address, Bush pushed for Congress to limit damage awards in medical malpractice cases, arguing that lawsuits are sending malpractice insurance costs soaring so that shortages of doctors are occurring in many places.

"I have proposed reasonable limits on the lawsuits that are raising health care costs for everyone," Bush said.

The relatively narrow legal area of medical malpractice suits has been a common theme for Bush in speeches around the country for more than a year. But on Saturday, as he has begun doing in recent weeks, he followed it by arguing also for more comprehensive changes to the nation's legal system, often referred to as "tort reform."

"We need to address the broader problems of frivolous litigation," Bush said. "We need effective legal reforms that will make sure that settlement money from class actions and other litigation goes to those harmed and not to trial lawyers."

The White House backs pending GOP legislation that would sharply curtail lawyers' contingency fees in lawsuit awards topping $100-million.

Democrats see the issue as partisan, with Republicans targeting trial attorneys, traditional major sources of campaign donations for Democrats, who often require percentage contingency fees to take on the expense of large lawsuits.

Despite being an interest of Bush's since before his first race for Texas governor in 1994, tort reform has not been a staple of Bush's speeches for most of his presidency. The issue, popular with the president's conservative Republican base, has appeared in his remarks more frequently as the 2004 election approaches.

Bush made the brief comments about legal issues as part of a radio address devoted to what his administration is doing, particularly the passage of tax cuts, to help small businesses. He was spending the weekend at the presidential mountain retreat at Camp David, Md., due to return to the White House today.

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