The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says the asbestos litigation reform legislation the Senate will take up this week represents the only realistic opportunity to pass such legislation in the near future.
The bill, S. 852, will be taken up by the Senate as early as Monday. It would create an alternative claims processing system funded by $140 billion in contributions by various stakeholders, including defendants and insurers.
Under the plan, insurers would contribute $45 billion over 27.5 years to the fund, mostly in the early years.
In remarks echoed by Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vermont, the Judiciary panel's ranking member, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said at a news conference yesterday, "If this bill goes down, I think there is not going to be another bill."
"We are really facing the option now of getting the best bill we can, or just not having a bill," Sen. Specter said.
Sen. Leahy made a similar comment, saying the proposal "may very well be our last chance for legislation."
Meanwhile, President Bush voiced support for the bill, saying imposing restraint on the cost of settling asbestos claims would spur investment by companies.
But at the same time, the AFL-CIO sent a letter to Senate leaders saying it could not support the bill in its present form.
"Throughout the legislative process our goal has been to arrive at a bill that provides fair and timely compensation to victims through an efficient and workable process," the labor organization said in a letter signed by its president, John Sweeney. "We acknowledge that important improvements to S. 852 have been made, but more needs to be done before the bill can fulfill its promise to provide fair and timely compensation to the victims of asbestos disease."
Given the range of opposition, including that of a significant number of large, multinational insurance companies, the legislation faces long odds.
For example, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will object to beginning the debate. This would pose a procedural hurdle for the bill; sponsors would need 60 votes to override the objection. Mr. Reid's threat was made last week in a letter to Senate Majority Leader William Frist, R-Tenn., a supporter of the asbestos bill.
Sen. Reid's concern is that the bill doesn't provide enough money for victims of exposure to asbestos in the workplace.
Industry lobbyists and lawyers, plus congressional staff, say initially the greatest danger to the bill is an effort by conservative Republicans to kill it because of concerns that the government may ultimately be forced to meet any shortfalls in funding.
The chairman of the Budget Committee, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., has said he may raise a budget point of order, another 60-vote hurdle.
Another reason for Sen. Gregg's action is that Republicans are concerned if Democrats don't believe they have the 40 votes–at last count they were up to 36 votes–to block consideration of the bill, they may act to bring up amendments that would embarrass Republicans.
Specifically, these amendments would raise the minimum wage and impose stronger controls over lobbyists' gifts and contributions to members of the Senate.
In his comments before employees of the 3M Company near St. Paul, Minn., President Bush noted that Congress last year passed legislation imposing restrictions on class action lawsuits.
Such lawsuits, he said, "hamper strong investment. If we want to be competitive, we've got to have balance in our legal system.
"Congress has the chance to send a signal again–we did a pretty good job on class-action lawsuits, but now they got a chance to do something on asbestos," the president said. "And there's a bill going to be moving out of the Senate. It's time to send a clear message to investors and markets and employees that we've got to have a legal system in regard to asbestos that's fair to those who have actually been harmed, and reasonable for those who need to pay."
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