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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release February 14, 2006 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852 |
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WASHINGTON—Senator Ken Salazar voted today to sustain a budget point of order, raised by Senator John Ensign (R-NV), against the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 (S. 852). The bill would create a national, $140 billion trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos-related illnesses. “I agree with my colleagues that we need to address the needs of the victims and businesses affected by asbestos litigation, but we must proceed in a fiscally responsible manner to do so,” Salazar said. “I have pledged to the bill’s sponsor, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), that I would work with him to help craft alternative legislation. I will work with both my Republican and Democratic colleagues to find a solution to this national problem.” “I voted to sustain the point of order raised against the bill because I am deeply concerned about the fiscal viability of the Trust Fund proposed in this legislation. Past efforts to establish trust funds to compensate victims of asbestos and other diseases suggest that this fund could fall short by $150 billion or more and Americans could be left holding the bag for the shortfall. “The basic problem with the bill is that when a ‘trough’ of money is created more claimants show up than expected as shown in the experience of the Manville asbestos trust and the Black Lung disease trust.” In 1969, the federal government established a trust fund for victims of Black Lung disease. The original estimates suggested the total cost of the fund would be $3 billion; however, in 2004 payments had grown to $41 billion. Similarly, in 1988, the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust began making payments to workers of Colorado’s own Johns Manville Corporation, the primary US manufacturer of asbestos. When the trust was created, the number of claims estimated to be paid ranged from 50,000 to 200,000. Today, about 600,000 claims have been filed and recent estimates of total potential claims are in excess of 2 million. Charts representing these underestimates can be found by clicking here. “We do asbestos victims and the American people no favors when we establish an inadequate fund which will become either defunct, or the target of a very expensive government bail-out. In the case of the Manville Trust, beneficiaries today are only receiving five cents on the dollar of the money they were promised. This is no way to care for these victims.” Under Senate rules, any Senator may raise an objection, known as a budget point of order, to any legislation that may increase the federal budget by more than $5 billion. ###
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