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Asbestos Bill Stays Alive as New Questions Arise
Thursday, February 09, 2006
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WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected an attempt Thursday to keep asbestos cases in the courts, removing one obstacle to the creation of a $140 billion trust fund for paying victims and ending their lawsuits.
Opponents quickly raised another obstacle.
Sen.
John Ensign, R-Nev., questioned the fund's future costs to taxpayers and asserted that the bill violates budget rules.
The bill would establish a privately funded trust fund, administered through the Labor Department, to compensate asbestos victims.
The fibrous mineral was commonly used until the mid-1970s in insulation and fireproof material.
Its tiny fibers can cause cancer and other ailments when inhaled.
Disease can take decades to develop.
Sen.
John Cornyn, R-Texas, tried to kill the proposed trust fund and create, instead, new medical standards for bringing an asbestos case to court.
He said lawmakers could weed out suits brought by people not yet sick from asbestos exposure and thin the mass of cases clogging the judicial system.
"I believe that the likelihood is far greater that the trust fund will sooner, rather than later, prove unsustainable and return us to the same broken ...
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