Asbestos-Illness Trust Fund Passes Senate Committee

The Senate took a major step Thursday toward creating a $140-billion trust fund to pay victims of asbestos poisoning when the chamber’s Judiciary Committee voted to approve a draft version of the compensation legislation.

Asbestos claims have bankrupted more than 70 companies. As a result, hundreds or perhaps thousands of people with asbestos-related illnesses have died without receiving compensation.

“We have thousands of people suffering from asbestos disease, many of whom are going to die, and a court system that can’t handle the problem,” said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

The bill, co-sponsored by Leahy and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the committee chairman, moves to the full Senate, where its prospects are uncertain.

If it becomes law, it will grant those sickened by asbestos exposure $25,000 to $1.1 million, depending on the nature and severity of their disease.

In return, victims give up their right to sue the manufacturers and insurers, which are to endow the trust fund.

The bill is the third major piece of long-stalled legislation promoted by business groups and the White House as part of President Bush’s second-term agenda.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that causes cancer and other diseases, especially when inhaled. Until the 1970s, it was commonly used as fireproofing and insulation in wallboard, shingles, tiles and automotive brakes.

The committee approved the bill 13-5. All 10 Republicans voted to move the bill to the full Senate, as did three Democrats. The opponents were all Democrats.

Three Republicans on the committee said they were not sure they would support the bill’s ultimate passage. Support in the House of Representatives, which has not considered the issue, is uncertain.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a physician, said he would vote against the bill as written because he said the medical criteria would permit compensation to smokers and others with cancers not clearly related to asbestos.

Coburn estimated that the payments for lung cancers of undetermined cause could amount to as much as $20 billion a year, quickly bankrupting the fund.

“It’s not going to work,” Coburn said. “We’re giving false hope. This bill as written will fail in year three, four or five.”

But at a news conference after the vote, Specter said he expected the bill to win support from both parties on the Senate floor. He said neither victims’ advocates nor companies and their insurers got all they wanted.

“Everyone wants a little more, but the final vote is going to turn on whether it’s better than the current system,” Specter said. “When you look at the deal versus the current system, there’s no contest.”

The legislation divides each party.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) took a central role in committee deliberations, in part because California had a large number of victims.

“The bill is not perfect,” Feinstein said. “Amendments will be made on the floor. But after two years, the movement of this bill to the floor is very significant, and an important step forward.”

Some supporters said that if the legislation passed, it would buoy the economy by resolving a long-festering liability crisis.

“For the sake of our economy, and in the spirit of compromise, special interests must now yield to our shared national interest,” said John Engler, president of the National Assn. of Manufacturers.

“The investor uncertainty that stems in no small part from ongoing asbestos lawsuit abuse has slowed the pace of our economic recovery.”

According to the National Centers for Health Statistics, about 4,000 people died in 2002 from two signature asbestos diseases -- mesothelioma, a form of cancer, and asbestosis, a fatal noncancerous disease.

Both have a long latency period, appearing 15 to 30 years after exposure, making it difficult to predict how many victims the trust fund would have to pay.

“We don’t know how many victims are really out there,” Feinstein said.

Under the bill, mesothelioma victims would get a lump-sum payment of $1.1 million each in return for relinquishing their right to sue. Nonsmokers with lung cancer would also receive $1.1 million, and smokers with lung cancer would receive $600,000. Victims with disabling asbestosis would receive $850,000.

If the trust fund, which would be administered by the Department of Labor, were to run out of money, victims would regain their right to sue.