The Latest Asbestos News from
U.S. Senator Patty Murray
....................................................................................
Dear Friend:
This is a very important week in the U.S. Senate for asbestos
victims and their families, and I'm sending you this email to keep
you up-to-date.
.........................................
Please forward this message to others, who can sign up here for their
own copy:
http://murray.senate.gov/asbestos/updates.cfm
To unsubscribe, reply to this message with the subject
line: Unsubscribe Asbestos Updates
.........................................
With the support of advocates like you, I've been working for the
past five years to finally ban asbestos, protect American families,
improve research and treatment, and provide critical help for victims.
This week, the U.S. Senate is debating Senator Specter’s
asbestos trust bill (S. 852).
Last year, I was able to work with Senators Specter and Leahy on
the Judiciary Committee to ensure that my ban legislation would be
included in their underlying trust fund bill.
I was also pleased that Senator Kohl’s amendment to establish
10 mesothelioma research and treatment centers and a public education
campaign was included in the Committee bill.
In addition, Senator Specter, to his credit, set aside $1 million
in the FY 2006 Labor/HHS Appropriations bill for the National Institute
of Occupational Safety and Health to establish a mesothelioma registry
and tissue bank.
These are all very positive developments, and I credit your advocacy
for helping to move the ball forward on mesothelioma research, awareness
and treatment in the U.S. Congress. But as we all know, much work
remains to be done.
Despite these successes, I remain very troubled about other
aspects of the asbestos trust fund bill, particularly as they relate
to fair compensation for the victims and their families.
I want to share with you the biggest problems I see remaining with
the current trust fund approach.
An Inadequate Trust Fund
The overall size of the trust fund ($140 billion) and the amount
of money available to pay claims in the first five years of the
trust are not adequate to compensate the hundreds of thousands of
asbestos victims and their families. Unfortunately the amount of
dollars contained in the bill are based less on good science and
more on the amount of money that insurers and defendant companies
were willing to pay into the fund.
A recent court filing by the US Gypsum Corporation sheds light
on why so many large corporations are hoping this bill is signed
into law. In these papers, the company said it would have saved
some $3 billion from their current asbestos liabilities if the trust
fund bill were enacted. The company decided to settle its cases
because of uncertainty over whether the bill would be enacted this
year.
Treatment of Victims
The bill's treatment of those victims with pending claims also
troubles me. Only those cases where evidence has already been presented
in court would be allowed to move forward. All other pending cases
and claims would be put on hold until the trust fund was established
– which is likely to take anywhere from 9 months to 2 years.
Far too many workers who are seriously ill may not have that long
to wait before the ravages of mesothelioma overtake them. I have
also heard from many employers and insurers who say they will challenge
the constitutionality of the law in court, possibly further delaying
payments to victims and their families.
Lack of Transparency
In addition, I'm concerned about the lack of transparency in the
bill, especially as it relates to which companies are paying into
the fund and how much are they paying. Senator Specter has not released
the names of companies that are liable for payments into the fund.
I have heard from a number of small and mid-size manufacturers
who question their assessments and who say they are not able to
pay their assessed amounts. They believe they are being unfairly
saddled with larger payments so that large corporations like Halliburton
can escape their liabilities by paying pennies on the dollar.
For these reasons and others, I cannot support the current
asbestos trust fund legislation without significant improvements.
Changes must be incorporated to adequately compensate unknowing victims
and their families for the irreparable harm caused by the negligence
of their government, the defendant companies, and the insurers.
If the trust fund bill fails to clear the Senate, I will re-introduce
my bill to ban asbestos, with additional funding included for research,
treatment and education next month.
If you have not already done so, I suggest you contact your Senators
and let them know your views on the Specter/Leahy asbestos trust fund
bill (S. 852). We expect the bill to be on the Senate floor for several
days, with a number of amendments to improve the bill likely to be
offered during this process.
All of you continue to provide me with the inspiration and the energy
to continue the fight through your kind letter and e-mails. I especially
want to single out the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF)
for the signature petition they sent me with over 10,000 signatures
on it. Please keep up the good work!
I will continue to be your advocate in the Congress, and we all need
to redouble our efforts over these next few critical days as we work
through a series of important amendments on the floor of the Senate.
And we must not forget about the crucial need for new federal dollars
to assist the work of the medical and research communities in mitigating
the effects of asbestos.
Thank you again for your tireless work to support my efforts to ban
asbestos in the Senate and to make sure that equity and fairness become
a real part of any trust fund bill that emerges from this Congress.
P.S. – There is another asbestos development that has
me concerned.
President Bush has nominated a new person to run the Occupations
Health and Safety Administration. That agency can play a critical
role in protecting workers and consumers from deadly asbestos.
Unfortunately, the person the President has nominated has
a long record of defending companies against workers' claims.
During a hearing last week, I specifically asked the nominee about
his views on banning asbestos. I was deeply disappointed in his response.
He did not appear to know that asbestos is still being put
in consumer products today. I told that nominee that I expect
him to answer a series of questions I've sent him so that I can better
gauge his commitment to protecting Americans from asbestos. I will
review his responses and then decide whether or not to vote for his
confirmation.
Below, I'm including a press release I sent out last week to let
people know that I'm very concerned about the nominee's inadequate
response on an issue that kills 10,000 Americans every year.
I've also included a video link below so you can watch the exchange
yourself:
rtsp://video.webcastcenter.com/srs_g2/murrayhelpcom013106.rm
....................................................................................
Senator Murray Questions Whether
New OSHA Nominee Will Aggressively Protect Americans from Deadly Asbestos
Murray raises concerns after hearing
disappointing answers from Bush
Administration nominee
Friday, February 3, 2006
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – This week, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash)
said she was deeply disturbed that the Bush Administration's choice
to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration appeared
to have an inadequate understanding of the dangers American workers
and consumers face everyday from deadly asbestos.
Each year, more than 10,000 Americans die of asbestos-related
diseases. Since 2001, Murray has been working to protect workers and
consumers from asbestos. She has introduced legislation to ban the
importation and use of asbestos in consumer products like brake pads,
roofing tiles and hairdryers. Murray is concerned that unless the
next OSHA chief understands the dangers and is committed to taking
action, millions of Americans will continue to die from needless asbestos
exposure.
On Tuesday (1/31) at a hearing of the Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Murray questioned Edwin Foulke,
Jr., who was nominated by President Bush to run OSHA as an Assistant
Secretary of Labor. OSHA is the federal government's principal worker
health and safety agency and is charged with protecting millions of
Americans workers around the country.
Murray expressed concern at the nominee's professional
background. Mr. Foulke is a partner at a large national law firm that
is known for defending corporate clients against workers' claims.
Murray told Foulke she was concerned about "whether you are going
to be advocating for workers" as OSHA's new head.
Turning to asbestos, Murray asked Mr. Foulke if he
believes "OSHA should propose a ban on the use of asbestos in
the United States?"
In his answer, Mr. Foulke said it was his understanding
that asbestos was not being used in the United States. Murray corrected
the nominee, noting that asbestos is still imported into the U.S.
in consumer products.
Because Senator Murray's time to question the nominee
had ended, she sent the nominee a series of follow-up questions to
better gauge his understanding of – and commitment to –
protecting workers from asbestos.
Murray said she will review Mr. Foulke's answers and
decide whether or not to support his nomination. The next step is
for the HELP Committee to hold an executive session to discuss and
vote on Mr. Foulke's nomination. A date for that meeting has not been
announced.
A partial transcript of the exchange follows:
.........................................
Excerpt of Nominations Hearing (Unofficial
Transcript)
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Senator Murray. This country still
allows the use of asbestos in the industry. Do you think that OSHA
should propose a ban on the use of asbestos in the United States?
Mr. Foulke. Well, Senator, I look
at it from an OSHA perspective. We do have our asbestos standard in
place, and I think that as long as we are assuring that that standard
is being enforced, that employees and workers will not be exposed
to asbestos, utilizing that--
Senator Murray. So you think it is
okay to have it here as long as we are just watching our workers?
Mr. Foulke. It is my understanding
that asbestos was no longer being utilized in--
Senator Murray. Asbestos is being
used in this country today.
Mr. Foulke. Well, on that issue, if
the Congress was going to be promulgating some type of standard or
some type of regulation, I would be happy to work with you on that
and provide input.
Senator Murray. Well, I will submit a number of questions on the record.
Asbestos still is imported and used in a number of products in this
country, including brakes, and we are trying to deal with the health
outcome of that. And it seems to me the first thing we should do is
ban the use of it, and I will submit a number of questions to the
record on that issue, and several others, Mr. Chairman.
....................................................................................
Sign Up to Receive Our Asbestos E-Mail Update:
|