By JESSE
J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate Judiciary
Committee on Thursday agreed to a permanent ban on the use
of asbestos in the United States and is making changes to
a proposed billion-dollar national trust fund for people
with asbestos-related illnesses.
Republicans and Democrats still seemed far apart on a deal
on legislation that could pass Congress and help to resolve
an asbestos litigation crisis.
" The parties have not yet reached common ground," said
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the top Democrat on the committee.
He suggested waiting until July to move ahead on the legislation
so business negotiators and advocates for sick people could
keep talking.
The committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that
if negotiators could not settle quickly, he would go ahead
with his bill.
" More delay only hurts the victims, but if it looks
like it is possible, I would allow a few more days in order
to get the support of as many of my colleagues as possible," Hatch
said.
Hatch said he would try for a committee vote Tuesday.
Under his legislation, a $108 billion fund would make payments
over 25 years to people with asbestos-related illnesses.
The top payment would be about $750,000 for someone with
the most lethal form of asbestos-caused cancer, mosothelioma.
In exchange for the fund, businesses' liability for asbestos
sicknesses would end.
Insurance companies would pay in $45 billion and companies
that have been sued would pay an additional $45 billion.
The rest of the money would come from smaller companies,
existing asbestos trusts and interest on the fund.
Asbestos is fibrous mineral commonly used until the mid-1970s
in insulation and fireproofing material. It has tiny fibers
that can cause cancer and other ailments when inhaled, but
the diseases often take decades to develop.
People with asbestos-related illnesses want more money and
a federal guarantee that the trust fund will not dry up before
all those eligible are paid. But Hatch and businesses say
$108 billion is as much as they will put into the trust and
as much as lawmakers will accept.
Labor groups, who expect to their position to be supported
by Democrats, say the bill is unacceptable as written.
" The bill we're marking up today falls far short of
what I could vote for," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.
Observers believe that any legislation must have strong
Democratic support to make it through the Senate, where Republicans
hold only a two-vote margin.
Hatch and Leahy have agreed to add a permanent ban on the
use of asbestos in the United States. The idea was championed
by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and added to the committee
bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
" Like most Americans, I had thought asbestos was banned
long ago," Murray said in testimony to the committee
this month.
Murray said asbestos is still used in items like brake pads
and gaskets, roofing shingles and roofing sealants. In 2001,
13,000 metric tons of asbestos were used in this country,
she said.
" If we are going to limit the rights of asbestos victims,
we have an obligation to prevent future victims by banning
asbestos," she said.
Senators also agreed, at the insistence of Sen. Max Baucus,
D-Mon., to let resident of Libby, Mont., who were sickened
by asbestos exposure participate in the fund.
Asbestos from a now-defunct vermiculite mine is blamed for
the deaths of some 200 residents and lung illness among hundreds
more.
Hatch's trust fund only covers workers exposed to asbestos,
and not those workers' families or those exposed in other
ways.
Hatch also agreed take out a provision that would have left
out people who were exposed to asbestos after 1982. Find
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