Specter, Leahy Continue Fight for Asbestos Trust Fund Bill

On Friday, Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced a new version of their Asbestos Trust Fund Bill. NAMIC's Federal Affairs Office has heard the bill will include a number of changes aimed at addressing concerns, such as tightening the medical criteria and including a provision that asbestos claims more than five years old would be extinguished and not included in the trust fund.

Below are comments Specter delivered on the Senate floor Friday morning:

Mr. President, in the remaining moment I want to shift gears and introduce a revised bill on asbestos reform. This is a subject which the senate had considered earlier this year and it's one I hope we would return to.

To give impetus to that, I'm introduced an amended version of the asbestos trust bill which makes very substantial improvements to satisfy interests and concerns raised by a number of senators. The bill provides for a most prompt recovery for the sickest of the claimants, stronger medical criteria, preserves the ability of bankruptcy trusts to continue paying impaired claims, has an improved allocation formula for well-insured and financially strapped defendant companies and a tighter control on so-called leakage.

Mr. President, I do this on the week when the last Friday we lost a great American, Judge Edward R. Becker who made such an enormous contribution to the structuring of this asbestos reform legislation. He gave of his own time, came to Washington on his own, at his own cost to preside over many meetings with the so-called stake holders (sic), the manufacturers, the trial lawyers, AFL-CIO representing labor and the insurance companies. And he was working on this bill, making calls to Senators right up until the time that prostate cancer took him a week ago today. When I gave him the report of our progress when it was obvious that the end was very, very near, he said, "Win one for the Gipper." We want to win one for the Gipper, for Judge Becker. We want to win this one for America.

So I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the statement and the text of the record be -- bill be included in the congressional record with a sponsorship you have Senator Leahy -- of Senator Leahy as well as myself.

Posted: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 10:02:50 AM.

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