Asbestos Bill Struggling on Capitol Hill

[Khephra]

Asbestos Bill Struggling on Capitol Hill

Sun August 31, 2003 11:19 AM ET
By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The late U.S. congresswoman Millicent Fenwick tried it. Even former Sen. Gary Hart tried it. Now some people contend Sen. Orrin Hatch's effort to solve the asbestos problem is likely to fail too.

"This asbestos bill is not dead. It's not on life support. But it's in a hospice," said David Austern, general counsel to the Manville Trust, set up in the 1980s to pay people sickened by asbestos after asbestos maker Johns-Manville Corp filed for bankruptcy.

Austern testified at recent Capitol Hill hearings examining how to compensate asbestos victims -- while curbing the hundreds of thousands of asbestos lawsuits that have choked courts and driven 67 companies into bankruptcy.

more...............

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3364096

[goobergunch]

1. Although the asbestos problem should be addressed...

this bill is a bad bill. It seems that S. 1125 is yet another Repuke bill that helps corporations at the expense of victims.

[dansolo]

2. Protecting Halliburton

Halliburton, because of Dick Cheney's bad leadership, got stuck with massive asbestos liability. They would just love to be able to wipe all of that clean.