The Asbestos Alliance

Press Releases
Editorials

PRESS RELEASES:

June 7, 2006:Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on New Trust Fund Bill

May 26, 2006: New Asbestos Trust Fund Bill Introduced in Senate

May 22, 200:6 Alliance Remembers Judge Edward Becker

February 14, 2006: U.S. Senate Stops Asbestos Bill

December 20, 2005: Congressional Budget Office “Reaffirms” Cost Estimate; Alliance Statement

August 26, 2005: Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate of Asbestos Victims Trust Fund Bill Provides Good News

August 25, 2005: Congressional Budget Office Releases Cost Estimate; Alliance Statement

May 26, 2005: Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Asbestos Bill!

May 26, 2005: Senate Committee Passes Asbestos Litigation Reform Bill

EDITORIALS:

Mobile Register: Senate Considers Bill for Asbestos Victims (February 14, 2006)

Washington Post: Forward on Asbestos (February 10, 2006)

Washington Times: The Asbestos Debate (February 10, 2006)

LA Times: Asbestos Justice (February 9, 2006)
"Scrapping the settlement fund, however imperfect it might be, would be a huge step backward for the cause of bipartisan government..it offers the promise of genuine relief for the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose quality of life is diminished by asbestos-related disease."

New York Times: Justice for Asbestos Victims (February 7, 2006)

Detroit News: Approve Asbestos Fund to Stop Lawsuit Abuse (February 6, 2006)

Rocky Mountain News: Asbestos Bill Best for Victims (January 31, 2006)
"While S. 852 is far from perfect, it would mark a major improvement that would ensure prompter settlements to patients, and direct money to sick people and not their lawyers."

Indianapolis Star: Asbestos Victims Need Viable Solution (January 23, 2006)
"When the Senate takes up legislation dealing with how to compensate victims of lung diseases who were exposed to asbestos, lawmakers need to realize there is no perfect solution. But any solution is better than the current flood of litigation."

New York Times: Toward Asbestos Justice (June 11, 2005)
"The Senate Judiciary Committee's recent vote to create a $140 billion fund to compensate victims of asbestos exposure was undoubtedly a gratifying moment for its Republican chairman, Senator Arlen Specter. Working closely with the committee's senior Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy, Mr. Specter has devoted countless hours to fine-tuning the bill's myriad details even as he has been undergoing grueling cancer treatment. The result is a promising if necessarily imperfect bipartisan compromise that aims to unclog the nation's courts and provide a measure of justice for sufferers of asbestos-related disease and their families." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Washington Post: Asbestos Milestone (April 19, 2005)
"The Specter-Leahy bill will not satisfy everyone, and it will fully satisfy almost no one. Trial lawyers are working against it, and parts of the insurance industry have serious concerns as well. But balancing the multitude of competing demands requires all to give in on some important issues. The compromise Mr. Specter has engineered is significantly better than past bills and -- more important -- dramatically better than a status quo that should not be allowed to continue. The Supreme Court has been saying for years that 'the elephantine mass of asbestos cases . . . defies customary judicial administration and calls for national legislation.' This is Congress's chance." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Hartford Courant: Class Action Racket (August 28, 2005)
"Congress has been deadlocked for years trying to find a solution to the asbestos morass. A sensible compromise proposes creation of a $140 billion trust fund to pay future claims, thus removing cases from the courts and ensuring that the money goes to impaired workers rather than lawyers." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Detroit News: Creating a Comprehensive Trust Fund Would Help Companies and Victims (May 12, 2005)
"If the Senate does nothing, thousands of more jobs will be lost to the asbestos litigation craze. The already beleaguered automakers would face yet one more financial challenge. And true victims still might not collect compensation. The legislation…won't make everyone happy, but it's been accepted by a bipartisan contingent and should be adopted." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Wisconsin State Journal: Asbestos Fund Can Solve Lawsuit Crisis (April 28, 2005)
"The creation of a trust fund to compensate the victims of asbestos-related disease should be a high priority of Congress this year… The benefits of the fund would include speedier resolution of claims for victims, greater certainty of liability for businesses and insurers, and both sides would save multimillions in lawyers' fees…An asbestos trust fund is a good idea." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Financial Times: It's Now or Never on Asbestos Deal (January 24, 2005)
"President George W. Bush has vowed to make the U 'the best place in the world to do business.' What better way to do that, than to solve the asbestos litigation crisis that threatens to bankrupt whole industries, throw tens of thousands of workers off the job, and generally blight the American economic landscape for years to come? It is time for all those concerned, from manufacturers to insurers to the labour unions to trial lawyers, to say yes to this legislation." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Newspapers Across America Call on Congress to Solve the Asbestos Litigation Crisis (PDF)

Boston Globe: A Deal for Asbestos Victims(December 1, 2003)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Asbestos Crisis - Congress Must End Flood of Lawsuits (September 25, 2003)

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Senate's good start could ban asbestos (July 25, 2003)

Washington Post: An Asbestos Accord (July 10, 2003)

Detroit Free Press: Asbestos Trust Fund Senate Plan Needs A Fast Fix and Approval Before It's Too Late To Help The Seriously Ill (July 6, 2003)
"Congress is tantalizingly close to resolving the longstanding crisis created by lawsuits over exposure to cancer-causing asbestos. It's time to hammer together the final details in a package that will serve truly ill workers and allow businesses...to get out from under a crippling avalanche of asbestos litigation." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Chicago Tribune: Solving the asbestos crisis (June 16, 2003)
"...{the legislation} represents the clear outlines of a solution to this crisis. It would get compensation to genuine victims and get hundreds of thousands of cases out of the regular court system. It is ludicrous to keep litigating for the benefit of the litigators, when what is needed is a claims system for the benefit of the victims." (Editorial no longer available online.)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The asbestos crisis / Some victims may miss out in the litigation stampede (November 10, 2002)