WASHINGTON, April 21 — Though negotiations continue, a bill that would settle hundreds of thousands of asbestos lawsuits by creating a trust fund to compensate victims appears headed for a procedural defeat in the Senate, where a vote is scheduled for Thursday.þþThe legislation, backed by the White House, would require defendant companies and insurers to contribute up to $124 billion to the fund, which would pay claims to all patients injured by asbestos exposure.þþDemocrats, and some moderate Republicans, contend that the amount is far too small to provide adequate compensation to the sick, and both sides say the opponents have enough votes to block the measure, which requires 60 votes to advance.þþÿThere is a sentiment that legislation is important and the right legislation would pass here overwhelmingly,ÿ said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. But, he said, some patients with life-threatening diseases would receive only $25,000 under the proposal, a figure he called ÿpreposterous.ÿþþThe measure is part of a broad, and thus far unsuccessful, White House effort at tort law changes. On Tuesday, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, scheduled the Thursday vote, on a motion to consider the bill. Dr. Frist was mindful that the motion would most likely fail, but his aides said Wednesday that he hoped to use the vote as a way of jump-starting negotiations among all sides.þþDefeat of the motion, then, would not necessarily signal the end of the legislation for this year. Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who has been brokering talks between the parties, said in an interview on Wednesday that he was not only hopeful but indeed optimistic that a deal could be reached.þþBut other lawmakers said a compromise could prove difficult as the November elections draw closer.þþÿThere is not in my opinion a full good-faith effort by the Democrats, and the reason is it's all politics,ÿ said Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the Utah Republican who is a chief sponsor of the bill, along with Dr. Frist.þþÿThis is the opportunity,ÿ Mr. Hatch added. ÿIf they blow it, we may never get this.ÿþþThe Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said it was Republicans who were not acting in good faith. Thursday's vote ÿmoves us backward, not forward,ÿ Mr. Daschle said, since it could harden lawmakers' positions even as talks continue.þþExposure to asbestos, long commonly used in fireproofing and a variety of manufacturing roles, is now known to be a potential health hazard: inhalation of its fibers can cause respiratory disease as well as lung cancer. More than 200,000 asbestos lawsuits are pending in state and federal courts, says the Asbestos Alliance, a coalition representing defendant companies. Jan Amundson, its chairwoman, said 70 defendants had gone out of business — 30 of them since 2000 — ÿfor one reason, and that's the asbestos lawsuits.ÿþþWith so many suits and so many businesses collapsing, the industry looked to Capitol Hill for a solution. But the issue has bedeviled lawmakers for well over a year. Both parties support the concept of a trust fund, but the negotiations have been complex, requiring the participation of business groups, insurers and labor unions. þþIn August, Senator Specter stepped in, arranging for Edward R. Becker, a senior judge on the federal appeals court in Philadelphia, to mediate. Since fall, Judge Becker has been overseeing almost weekly meetings, which Dr. Frist and Mr. Daschle agreed Wednesday to join personally.þþDespite the lack of a final compromise, Senators Frist and Hatch introduced their own legislation this month; on Tuesday, when Dr. Frist moved to bring up the bill, Mr. Specter called the motion ÿcounterproductiveÿ to the talks.þþTrial lawyers, and the Democrats they support, have objected strongly to the bill, whose sponsors call it the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act, or FAIR. The opponents say its structure would force victims to wait years to receive their payouts, in some cases dying beforehand.þþIn a statement Wednesday, David S. Casey Jr., president of the Association of Trials Lawyers of America, said, ÿAfter more than a year of intense negotiations, what began as an asbestos bailout bill is still an asbestos bailout bill, and calling it the FAIR Act is like putting lipstick on a pig and calling it pretty.ÿþþþþ
Source: NY Times
