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ABC News: Critics Call Asbestos Trust Fund a Corporate Bailout
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Critics Call Asbestos Trust Fund a Corporate Bailout
Senate Proposal Would Create $140 Billion Fund for Victims
Bush Praises King for Changing the Country
Bush Plan Would Trim Survivor Benefits
The Note: The Loneliest Number Since the Number One
By LIZ MARLANTES
WASHINGTON, Feb.
7, 2006 — When Paul Zygielbaum's stomach first began to bulge, his doctor put him on a diet.
It wasn't until he was diagnosed with a tumor that he began to think back to his years at a General Electric power plant in the 1970s, where he worked with equipment that contained asbestos.
Asbestos fibers were used widely for years for their insulating and fire-retardant capabilities, but they have been linked to lung diseases and cancer.
Hundreds of thousands of asbestos injury claims have been filed over the past several years, helping to push more than 70 U.S.
companies into bankruptcy, including W.R.
Grace & Co.
and USG Corp..
Now the Senate is considering a measure that would create a $140 billion trust fund to compensate asbestos victims.
The fund would consist of contributions b...