Senate Panel Backs Asbestos Liability Fund

Legislation creating an $108-billion asbestos liability trust fund in exchange for an end to litigation gained approval from a powerful Senate committee Thursday night after lawmakers agreed on payout limits to people made sick by the material.

The bill still faces problems when it makes it to the full Senate, with both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee saying their votes were not assured when it comes to a vote in the chamber.

“I’m not confident that this is the quality of bill that we need to pass,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who voted for the bill in committee but would not commit to supporting the bill in the full Senate.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) acknowledged the problems ahead. “We will work with all members to try to improve it between now and the floor,” he said.

The committee voted 10 to 8 to pass the legislation, with all Judiciary Republicans voting for the bill except Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who passed on the vote, and all Judiciary Democrats voting against the legislation except Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who voted for it.

Feinstein said the amendments she helped add to the legislation -- a ban on most uses of asbestos in America, a backup fund in case the main asbestos fund begins to run out of money and Thursday’s payout limits -- nudged her to vote yes.

“I happen to believe they were substantial improvements on the bill and I believe that I can defend them,” she said.

After weeks of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats agreed on a list of payments Thursday, the last major holdup on the legislation. A claimant with mesothelioma, the most lethal of the asbestos-caused cancers, would get $1 million.

The fund would recognize 10 levels of asbestos related diseases: five levels of nonmalignant disease and five levels of cancer, including colorectal cancer and lung cancer. Smokers, ex-smokers and nonsmokers who are sick from asbestos-related diseases would get different amounts of money.

“We’re getting the money to the people who really need it,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.).

Democrats wanted more money for asbestos victims than Republicans were willing to give, but both sides agreed to the compromise to move the bill forward.

“I think it’s the best we’re going to do,” Feinstein said. “Maybe that means we have a fair and balanced bill if both sides don’t like it.”