Washington, September 16-- Plans for an asbestos victims' compensation fund advanced in the Senate on Wednesday as Democratic leader Tom Daschle agreed to $140 billion in overall funding proposed by Republican Leader Bill Frist.
Previously Daschle had said that the asbestos fund should be set up with $145 billion from business and industry and existing asbestos trusts. Daschle's office said he was making "significant concessions" to Frist.
Shares of companies facing asbestos claims rose on news of Daschle's compromise offer.
But there were still differences between the two men on the projected lifespan of the asbestos fund and other issues.
Frist and Daschle are trying to agree on the outlines of a fund that would take asbestos claims out of the courts and could be written into legislation this year.
"Too much progress has been made to let this issue go unaddressed in this Congress," Daschle, from South Dakota, said in a letter to Frist, from Tennessee.
Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists say inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases.
U.S. companies have already paid out tens of billions of dollars on hundreds of thousands of asbestos injury claims.
A spokeswoman for Frist said he had received the proposal from Daschle and was reviewing it. "Senator Frist does realize the importance of getting a deal on asbestos, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction," she said.
Aides pointed out some differences remained, such as that Daschle's proposal sees the fund paying claims for 27 years, while Frist's was for a fund lasting 30 years.
Daschle did compromise in several areas, including watering down his insistence that existing asbestos claims should be allowed to work their way through court if the plaintiff does not want to turn to the new fund for payment.
Daschle now proposes to allow cases that are currently in trial, or have a trial date that falls within 60 days of enactment, to continue in court, aides said. He would also allow cases to continue in court involving mesothelioma, a form of cancer linked to asbestos, if a trial date has been set.
Frist wants all existing cases to revert to the fund.
In his letter, Daschle said he believed his proposal could pass the Senate with "overwhelming bipartisan support."
But an AFL-CIO official said the labor organization, which is influential with Democrats, still believed a minimum of $149 billion was needed to compensate asbestos victims -- and opposed Daschle's offer.
"We can't support something we think will fail the victims. At the end of the day, it isn't about reaching agreement, it's about putting in place a program that compensates victims with asbestos disease," Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO's occupational health official, said.
Daschle told Frist that if Congress cannot reach agreement this year, the Senate should make a thorough review of new information on asbestos, including data on projected claims. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this summer that asbestos deaths had risen dramatically in the United States and were likely to increase through the next decade.
