Frist Plans to Bring Up Controversial Asbestos Bill Next Week

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said yesterday that he intends to bring up for debate next week the long-pending bill that would remove damage claims of workers and others injured by exposure to asbestos from the courts, sending them instead to a privately financed $140 billion trust fund for adjudication and payment.

The measure, approved by a divided Senate Judiciary Committee last year, is highly controversial. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has said he would seek to block floor action. There may also be objections that it would violate Senate budget rules.

Procedural objections could force backers to try to round up 60 votes to proceed.

Supporters said this might be Congress's last opportunity to deal with the asbestos controversy.

"If this bill goes down, I think there is not going to be another bill," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday.

The measure is supported by both Specter and senior Judiciary Committee Democrat Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), but many Democrats on the panel opposed it, and some Republicans who voted for it in committee said they would not support it on the floor without substantial changes.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) yesterday called the bill "unfair and unworkable."

The bill has been criticized by trial lawyers and some asbestos victims, who contend that the money available would not be sufficient to cover expected claims. It has also been attacked by insurers and some of the businesses that would be compelled to pay for the trust, which argue that the funding burden is unfairly distributed and that the bill does not assure closure of the issue.

Asbestos ailments have generated a slow-motion crisis that has been going on for decades, producing hundreds of thousands of claims so far, pushing more than 70 corporations into bankruptcy and clogging courts in many jurisdictions.

"This is a real problem that Congress should debate," Frist said in a written statement yesterday. He urged Reid to call off "obstructionist tactics."

Asbestos is a fibrous silicate mineral once widely used in fireproofing, building materials, and other applications, such as automobile brakes, in which heat resistance is important. It has been found to cause a variety of lung diseases, including a particularly deadly form of cancer called mesothelioma.

The bill calls for nine levels of compensation, depending on the seriousness of a claimant's condition. Payments would range from $25,000 for breathing impairment to $1.1 million for mesothelioma victims. Medical monitoring is provided for people who have been exposed to asbestos but show no symptoms.