Asbestos Bill Backers Set News Conference
Washington, DC, February 2, 2006The co-sponsors of legislation to create a $140 billion asbestos injury fund are due to hold a news conference on Thursday as they seek to rally support ahead of a possible U.S. Senate vote next week.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said the event will include representatives of groups in favor of the compensation fund.
Speculation continued on Wednesday over the legislation's prospects, with some observers arguing that President George W.Bush had signaled it was in trouble by failing to mention the measure in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Bush often talks of the need to curb excessive litigation.
"In our view this (omission) shows that even the White House has given up on asbestos reform," wrote Jaret Seiberg, an analyst for Stanford Washington Research Group. ""We believe the administration would have found room in the speech if it believed legislation was possible."
There are hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims in U.S. courts.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino on Wednesday insisted the president still cared about the issue.
"Absolutely, asbestos litigation reform is a high priority and we are pleased that the legislation continues to move forward in the Senate," Perino said.
Asbestos fibers are linked to cancer and other lung-scarring diseases, and hundreds of thousands of injury claims have clogged courtroom dockets and helped push more than 70 U.S. companies, like W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and USG Corp. (USG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), into bankruptcy proceedings.
Specter and Leahy's bill would take asbestos suits out of court and pay victims' claims instead from a fund financed by asbestos defendant companies and insurers. It was introduced last April and passed the Judiciary Committee in May, but has struggled to gain momentum ever since.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and an opponent of the legislation, says he will object to debate even beginning on the bill, a procedural hurdle that would require s super-majority of 60 votes to beat.
Other Democratic opponents of the bill said Wednesday they had blocked an attempt by Specter to have a full hearing on asbestos in the Judiciary Committee this week.
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, on behalf of several committee Democrats, objected to the plan, saying insufficient notice had been given, a Durbin spokesman said.
