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Online NewsHour: Senate Debates Compensation for Asbestos Victims- February 9, 2006
ASBESTOS
VICTIM COMPENSATION
February 9, 2006
A
proposed Senate bill would create a $140 billion trust fund to compensate victims
of asbestos exposure.
Sens.
Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah provide
opposing viewpoints on the effectiveness of the plan to help around 700,000 people
who have claimed health problems as a result of asbestos exposure.
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U.S.
SenateOccupational
Safety & Health Administration: Asbestos Environmental
Protection Agency: Asbestos
SPENCER
MICHELS: It took 30 years but this week the Senate finally agreed to begin debating
legislation for a new way to compensate asbestos victims.
Some 700,000
people have claimed serious injury from exposure while working with or around
the cancer-causing mineral that was commonly used in insulation and fireproofing
until the mid 1970s.
Many sued the companies they worked for and awards in those
suits have bankrupted almost 80 firms.
But some 300,000 cases are still pending.
The Senate bill would establish a privately supported $140 billion t...
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