Washington, DC, June 24--The co-author of legislation to create a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund said he hoped the bill would get a vote on the Senate floor next month, despite continuing controversy over who would pay what in financing the fund.
Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is sponsoring the bill along with Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, said in a floor speech he hoped Senate leaders would schedule a vote on the bill shortly after lawmakers return from their July 4th recess.
"There is a momentum in hand, where I think it would be very much in the national interest, for the reason I stated, to move ahead," said Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Specter and Leahy also circulated an eight-page letter urging other lawmakers to support the bill.
The legislation was approved by the judiciary committee in May, but several Republican senators who voted to get it out of committee said there would have to be changes before they could support it on the Senate floor.
The measure would eliminate asbestos lawsuits and create a 30-year fund financed by companies now facing the litigation -- who would chip in $90 billion -- and their insurers, who would be on the hook for $46 billion. Another $4 billion would come from existing asbestos trust funds. Victims could no longer sue, but would go to the fund for compensation.
But many insurers oppose the current bill, and some smaller manufacturing companies have complained that the burden of financing the fund would fall too heavily on them.
Specter said there was an ongoing controversy "as to how the 90 billion (dollars) will be divided up among the manufacturers, and that is essentially a question that only the manufacturers themselves can guarantee."
There were similar issues among insurers as to how their $46 billion share would be divided, he said. "And candidly the insurance industry is split on the issue but we are still working and I have meetings in the course of next week to 10 days with people who have outstanding concerns to try to resolve those issues."
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said the bill had not yet been scheduled for Senate floor time. "No final decisions have been made on timing, but Sen. Frist is in close consultation with Chairman Specter as he determines the appropriate time to move forward," the spokesman said.
