NYT: Fund for Asbestos Victims Seems Headed for Setback

Fund for Asbestos Victims Seems Headed for Setback
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Published: April 22, 2004


WASHINGTON, April 21 — Though negotiations continue, a bill that would settle hundreds of thousands of asbestos lawsuits by creating a trust fund to compensate victims appears headed for a procedural defeat in the Senate, where a vote is scheduled for Thursday.

The legislation, backed by the White House, would require defendant companies and insurers to contribute up to $124 billion to the fund, which would pay claims to all patients injured by asbestos exposure.

Democrats, and some moderate Republicans, contend that the amount is far too small to provide adequate compensation to the sick, and both sides say the opponents have enough votes to block the measure, which requires 60 votes to advance....

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The measure is part of a broad, and thus far unsuccessful, White House effort at tort law changes. On Tuesday, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, scheduled the Thursday vote, on a motion to consider the bill. Dr. Frist was mindful that the motion would most likely fail, but his aides said Wednesday that he hoped to use the vote as a way of jump-starting negotiations among all sides....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/politics/22ASBE.html