To: |
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Mesothelioma and Asbestos Cancer Patients/Families/Friends |
Fr: |
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Roger G. Worthington |
Dt: |
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April 11, 2005 |
Re: |
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Asbestos Bail Out Bill is Back (and ugly as ever) |
The rights of asbestos victims are again on the chopping block. The asbestos
companies and their corporate sponsors in the U.S. Senate want to sacrifice
your right to seek redress in the civil court system so that the companies
who poisoned millions of workers, schoolchildren and US Navy veterans
can safely put profit predictability over moral accountability.
The bill is expected to be introduced tomorrow in the U.S. Senate. We have
learned that several Democratic Senators may co-sponsor the bill, including
Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Tom Carper (Del.), Herb Kohl (Wis.) and Dianne
Feinstein (Ca.).
We can stop the sell-out if we take a few minutes to call, write and fax
our U.S. Senators.
In the next few days, I will be providing you with form letters to fax,
e-mail and regular mail to your senators. I understand the "new" bill will not be significantly different
from last year's bill, which had been voted out of committee but never
reached a floor vote. When we've analyzed the new bill, we will provide
you with a summary, as well as a suggest form letter, which you and your
family can use.
For now, here are a few points to consider, based on my review of the last
known version of the bail out bill.
- The trust fund inadequately compensates victims. Awards will be capped
at arbitrarily chosen numbers that do not account for age, life expectancy,
lost wages, dependents, medical bills and special hardships. The numbers
will not reflect average jury or settlement values on a regional basis.
- The trust fund will rely on contributions from business and insurance,
who will likely litigate what their "fair share" is for years
to come. As with the Superfund toxic waste clean up effort, corporate
America would rather delay than pay.
- The Bail Out Bill will create another massive federal bureaucracy. It will
take years for the agency to "get up to speed." Meanwhile, the
federal government will confiscate all unpaid settlements and dismiss
all pending lawsuits, even if your case is in trial. You will forever
lose your right to seek redress in the civil court system for your loss,
even if the trust fund runs out of money.
-
The new federal agency will be beholden to its corporate sponsors. Think
it's tough getting any service from your government now? Wait until
you try to collect compensation for asbestos cancer. Agencies by nature
put their own survival as their top priority. If bureaucrats are faced
with deciding to pay or not to pay, they will likely side with industry,
as the more money in the trust fund, the better chance the agency will
meet it's own payroll. Administrative expedience will trump civil justice
.
-
At least 10,000 people in the United States will die each year of asbestos
disease over the next 20 years. At least 2,500 Americans are diagnosed
with mesothelioma each year. Neither industry nor the National Institute
of Health has seriously invested in medical research for early detection,
prevention, treatment or a cure. The bill largely ignores the pressing
need for more research dollars and essentially writes off mesothelioma
patients as beyond help. Two years ago
MARF proposed a $140 million per year research and treatment program. The bill
would dole out a mere $10 million a year for 5 years. This is a drop in
the bucket and a slap in the face.
- The EPA has determined that as many as 35 million homes, schools and businesses
are currently contaminated with asbestos-containing Zonolite insulation.
Millions of children are still being exposed to asbestos in schools. The
Bill does not ban the use of continued use of all forms of asbestos.
- The proposed figure of $140 billion to fund the asbestos trust was not
arrived at through consideration of how many people may develop asbestos
disease, or how much compensation they may deserve, but by asking industry
and its insurers how much they would be willing to pay to eliminate their
liability forever. The settlement values are fixed and cannot be appealed.
Claimants cannot ?opt out? of the trust fund to pursue their constitutional
rights to a jury trial.
- Windfall Savings for Hurting/Killing on A Massive Scale. Halliburton would
save $3.7 billion by going into the Fund, rather than meeting its obligation
under the bankruptcy trust. Honeywell would save $1.5 billion. W.R Grace
would save $1.7 billion. In all, asbestos corporations with pending settlements
would a receive $12.6 billion windfall by no longer having to compensate
victims the amount they have already agreed to pay.
- The asbestos bail out bill excuses and reduces corporate liability, opening
the door for more egregious corporate behavior and is not in the best
interest of the average working American.
- The asbestos bail out bill will result in delays and reduces and denies
compensation to asbestos victims and their families.
- The medical criteria requirements established in the bill, which were drafted
by corporate sponsors and their lobbyists, do not comport with medical
science. They are geared towards limiting the number of eligible claimants
and shirking their duty to compensate.
- It is foreseeable that the Fund will never be properly funded, yet the
law would prevent claimants from returning to the civil court system to
seek compensation. The bill rewards big corporations who commit mass atrocities
by letting them off the hook. This is bad for our country, undermines
our civil liberties, and puts companies who obey the law at an economic
disadvantage next to the anything-goes scofflaws.
Even several large insurance companies agree the bill is unfair and contains
numerous problems that are "unfixable." We agree that if the
Federal Government really wants to fix a problem, it should fund medical
research to fix the public health crisis and pass a legitimate medical
criteria bill that preserves the right of the seriously ill, such as mesothelioma
and lung cancer patients, to expedite their claims against the guilty parties.
Several rabid senators have proposed eliminating claims by those who are
stricken with colon cancer, laryngeal and stomach cancers, despite the
overwhelming weight of medical authority that such cancers can be caused
by heavy asbestos exposure.
Here are the members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Biden, Joseph - (D - DE)
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-5042 fax: (202) 224-0139
E-mail: http://senator@biden.senate.gov
Brownback, Sam - (R - KS)
303 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-6521 fax: (202) 228-1265
Web Form: http://brownback.senate.gov/
Carper, Thomas - (D - DE)
513 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-2441 fax: (202) 228-2190
Web Form: http://carper.senate.gov/email-form.html
Coburn, Tom - (R - OK)
172 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-5754 fax: (202) 224-6008
Web Form: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/one_item_and_teasers/coburn.htm
Cornyn, John - (R - TX)
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-2934 fax: (202) 228-2856
Web Form: http://cornyn.senate.gov/contact/index.html
DeWine, Mike - (R - OH)
140 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-2315 fax: 202) 224-6519
Web Form: http://dewine.senate.gov
Durbin, Richard - (D - IL)
332 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-2152 fax: (202) 228-0400
Web Form: http://durbin.senate.gov/
Feingold, Russell - (D - WI)
506 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-5323 fax: (202) 224-2725
E-mail: http://russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov
Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-3841 fax: (202) 228-3954
Web Form: http://feinstein.senate.gov/email.html
Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC)
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-5972 fax: (202) 224-1189
Web Form: http://lgraham.senate.gov/index.cfm?mode=contact
Grassley, Chuck - (R - IA)
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-3744 fax: (202) 224-6020
Web Form: http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm
Hatch, Orrin - (R - UT)
104 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-5251 fax: (202) 224-6331
Web Form: http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Offices.Contact
Kennedy, Edward - (D - MA)
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-4543 fax: (202) 224-2417
Web Form: http://kennedy.senate.gov/
Kohl, Herb - (D - WI)
330 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-5653 fax: (202) 224-9787
Web Form: http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html
Kyl, Jon - (R - AZ)
730 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-4521 fax: (202) 224-2207
Web Form: http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Leahy, Patrick - (D - VT)
433 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-4242 fax: (202) 224-3479
E-mail: http://senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
Schumer, Charles - (D - NY)
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-6542 fax: (202) 228-3027
Web Form: http://schumer.senate.gov
Sessions, Jeff - (R - AL)
335 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-4124 fax: (202) 224-3149
Web Form: http://sessions.senate.gov/contact.htm#form
Specter, Arlen - (R - PA)
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
tel: (202) 224-4254 fax: (202) 228-1229
E-mail: http://arlen_specter@specter.senate.gov
Please be prepared to ask your Senator to vote against the Asbestos Bail Out Bill.
RGW
4/11/05