Frist Intends to Have Asbestos Bill Passed this Fa
Washington, DC, August 1--Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on Friday he intends to get legislation creating a $140 billion asbestos victims' compensation fund approved by the chamber this autumn.
"It is my intention to bring that bill to the floor and pass it this fall," Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said of the asbestos bill as the Senate wound up its work ahead of a summer recess.
A bipartisan bill to create the asbestos compensation fund was approved by the Senate's Judiciary Committee in May. But with doubts remaining about how much support it has in either party, Frist has not brought it to the Senate floor.
In his remarks on Friday evening, Frist did not address the questions that had been raised about the bill. Republican critics are concerned about the fund's solvency and whether it would halt all asbestos lawsuits, while Democrats have questioned whether it treats victims fairly.
Members of both parties have said they want more information about how the fund would be financed.
Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Its fibers have been linked to cancer, and injury claims have bankrupted dozens of U.S. companies.
The bill by Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter and Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy would halt the lawsuits. Instead, claims would be paid from a $140 billion fund to be financed by companies facing the suits, and their insurers.
