Proposed Asbestos Bailout Bill is Taking Away Veterans' Rights
Don't be misled, this Asbestos Bailout Bill is bad for veterans. Thousands
of veterans across this country do not support this bill. In fact, there
is evidence of a fraudulent letter-writing campaign on behalf of veterans
going on in favor of this bill.
Why a Trust Fund is Bad for Veterans
Veterans, like all Americans, have always had the right to go to court
to hold accountable the companies that knowingly poisoned them. They have
been able to receive court-approved compensation to cope with the devastating
health and financial consequences of asbestos-related diseases…until
now. Asbestos companies, their insurers and some Senators want to take
that right away with a bill that shortchanges asbestos victims and rewards
companies that poisoned them.
The asbestos bailout bill terminates the legal rights of all current and
future asbestos victims and forces them into an untested national trust
fund bureaucracy that would be under-funded by at least $40 billion. The
bill would delay financial relief to veterans and other asbestos victims
by up to nine years - time many dying asbestos victims just don't have.
Under the proposed bill, many veterans with asbestos-related diseases will
not qualify for any compensation at all. With the exception of mesothelioma
victims, very few veterans are likely to meet the five and ten year cumulative
exposure requirements under the bill because they will not have been in
the service long enough to qualify.
The bill bails out the very asbestos and insurance companies that knowingly
exposed veterans to asbestos.
The Facts
"Industry data, collected in recent years, shows that claims from
individuals exposed in military and shipyard construction accounted for
26% of cases of mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos related lung cancer, 16%
of other lung-cancer cases and 13% of disabling lung-disease cases."1
"Naval ships and shipyards used asbestos heavily, and over 30% of
America's mesothelioma victims were exposed to asbestos while serving
their country, either in uniform or while building and maintaining our
fleet. Spouses and children were exposed when the workers brought the
deadly fibers home on their skin, clothes and hair."2
Why Navy Veterans are Most Affected
"If you served in the U.S. Navy before the mid-1970's, you were
likely exposed to asbestos aboard ship."3
"Millions of Veterans exposed to lethal asbestos. During and after
World War II, asbestos use greatly expanded as the asbestos manufacturing
companies helped write specifications for products on U.S. Navy ships.
This caused hundreds of thousands of workers and sailors to be unknowingly
exposed to dangerous asbestos dust in the cutting and manipulation of
insulation products. As a result, many of these men and women would contract
an asbestos-related disease decades later."4
"No location aboard ship was safe. The wide variety of occupations
of the victims of asbestos disease proves that no one was immune - even
family members became afflicted. Although fire and engine rooms were most
commonly associated with asbestos disease, no place aboard ship was safe
including sleeping quarters, mess halls, and navigation rooms. Thousands
were exposed to asbestos while working at shipyards and dry docks."5
What Does the Department of Veterans Affairs Do for these Victims?
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Adjudication Procedure Manual
M21-1, Part VI, paragraph 7.21, the VBA explains the asbestos problem
with Navy personnel and shipyard workers.
"High exposure to asbestos and a high prevalence of disease have been
noted in insulation and shipyard workers. This is significant considering
that, during World War II, several million people employed in U.S. shipyards
and U.S. Navy veterans were exposed to chrysotile [asbestos] products
as well as amosite and crocidolite [asbestos] since these varieties of
African asbestos were used extensively in military ship construction.
Many of these people have only recently come to medical attention because
the latent period varies from 10 to 45 or more years between first exposure
and development of disease. Also of significance is that the exposure
to asbestos may be brief (as little as a month or two) or indirect (bystander
disease)."6
However, according to the Veterans Health Administration website, while
the VHA offers a variety of Clinical Programs and Initiatives to help
veterans - from "Blind Rehabilitation Services" to "Kidney
Diseases Program" to an "Agent Orange Health Effects" program
- it has no programs specifically targeted to help victims of asbestos-related
diseases and their families.7
Veterans Letter Campaign a Fraud
On February 15, 2004, a letter signed by Richard Hagel, past president
of the North Dakota Veterans of Foreign Wars appeared in the Grand Forks
Herald. In his letter Mr. Hagel expressed support for the asbestos bill.
However, after some investigation, it was discovered that Mr. Hagel did
not agree to sign the letter. The letter was placed in the newspaper without
his permission.8
Subsequently, the newspaper acknowledged its mistake and has since printed
two op-eds regarding the asbestos bill.9 Similar letters are appearing
in papers around the country.
Who knows which are being placed with the author's permission and which are not?
And who knows how many of our nation's veterans are being misled into
thinking the asbestos bailout bill is good for them, rather than just
for the companies that poisoned them?
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"U.S. Stands Aside on Asbestos: Government Won't Pay Into Proposed
Fund, Despite Navy Cases," by Shailagh
Murray, Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2003.
"Mesothelioma Takes Our Heroes," Mesothelioma Applied Research
Foundation, Inc., 2003,http://www.marf.org/marfMainContents/advocacy_brochure.pdf
Asbestos Veterans Assistance Information League (AVAIL) website, http://www.availusa.org/2web/2_2.htm
Asbestos Veterans Assistance Information League (AVAIL) website, http://www.availusa.org/2web/2_2.htm
Asbestos Veterans Assistance Information League (AVAIL) website, http://www.availusa.org/2web/2_2.htm
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Adjudication Procedure Manual M21-1
(Manual M21-1), Part VI, paragraph 7.21, www.vba-rms.intecwash.navy.mil/admin21/m21_1/part6/ch07.doc
Department of Veterans Affairs website, http://www1.va.gov/health_benefits/page.cfm?pg=13
"Be fair to the victims of asbestos exposure," by Richard Hagel,
Grand Forks Herald, February 15, 2004.
"Fraudlent letter suggests win-at-all-costs approach," by David
C. Thompson, Grand Forks Herald, March 13, 2004; "Hagel: I didn't
write letter" by Richard Hagel, Grand Forks Herald, March 13, 2004;
and "Vets need trust-fund solution," by Larry W. Rivers, Grand
Forks Herald, March 27, 2004.