[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




BOOST THE ECONOMY--COMPENSATE REAL VICTIMS; SUPPORT ASBESTOS LITIGATION 
                                 REFORM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2005

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, for almost two decades, Congress has 
unsuccessfully grappled with the challenge of assuring fair and timely 
compensation to workers who have become sick after being exposed to 
asbestos fibers. The pioneering work done by litigation reform 
advocates like Rep. Henry Hyde laid the foundation for ongoing 
negotiations in the other body that may finally result in legislation 
that assures compensation to sick plaintiffs and allows defendant 
companies to move beyond the uncertainty of decades-long mass tort 
litigation.
  In his State of the Union address, President Bush told us, ``Justice 
is distorted, and our economy is held back, by irresponsible class 
actions and frivolous asbestos claims and I urge Congress to pass legal 
reforms this year.'' It is time for the House to enter the debate.
  Many of you have heard how asbestos litigation reform has hurt 
workers and our economy. Over 8,000 defendants must spend time and 
money responding to asbestos lawsuits. Since the mid-1980's, 730,000 
asbestos claims have been filed--and over 100,000 asbestos suits were 
filed in 2003 alone. Defendants point to examples of clever attorneys 
``working the system'' to benefit certain plaintiffs, escalating the 
cost of litigation beyond reliable measure. For example, in 1998, a 
Fayette, Mississippi, jury awarded $2 million each to five plaintiffs 
who had been exposed to asbestos fibers but had little or no symptoms 
of illness. In 2003, the Supreme Court has upheld a $5.8 million award 
to plaintiffs with lung x-rays showing evidence of asbestos exposure, 
who successfully argued that they deserved compensation for living with 
fear of contracting an asbestos-related disease--or ``asbestophobia,'' 
as some call it. The uncertain cost of asbestos litigation has driven 
at least 74 companies into bankruptcy. Employees of these bankrupt 
firms have watched the value of their 401(k) accounts drop by 25 
percent. As many as 60,000 workers have lost their jobs.
  This focus on numbers can make us forget that asbestos litigation 
reform is about people:
  Mary Lou Keener watched her father die painfully from mesothelioma, a 
cancer he contracted from asbestos exposure while he served in the Navy 
during World War 11. He filed legal claims years before he died, yet 
his widow has received almost nothing.
  Workers who are sick from years of exposure to asbestos while working 
for Johns Manville Corporation might be told that approved compensation 
for their mesothelioma is $700,000; however, since the bankruptcy 
trustee pays only five cents on the dollar, their claim is worth 
$35,000.
  David Coleman, exposed to asbestos as an infant when he inhaled 
fibers embedded in his father's work clothes, died of mesothelioma in 
2002, at the age of 19. His family's lawsuit sits on the court docket 
in Cuyahoga County, along with another 34,000 claims.
  Children who grew up in the asbestos mining town of Libby, Montana, 
breathing in asbestos fibers stirred up by the street traffic as they 
road buses to school, now, as adults, are experiencing asbestosis 
symptoms. Under the current system, they have no hope of compensation.
  Ron Huber, who worked 35 years in a steel mill, joined an asbestos 
suit in 1995 although he had no symptoms of asbestos related illness. 
His attorney accepted a small settlement which, according to Huber, was 
wholly applied to legal costs. By 2002, he was truly experiencing 
symptoms of asbestos-related disease. He is suing the only person not 
released by settlement of the 1995 case--the attorney who recruited him 
for that suit.
  Drew Anders, who spent 15 years working for a company that was forced 
to declare bankruptcy in reaction to growing asbestos litigation, 
watched his $50,000 retirement account fall to $1,500.
  A small business owner in Louisiana who never manufactured anything 
containing asbestos once used a asbestos-threaded nut in a piece of 
machinery. Although there is no evidence that this nut causes asbestos 
related disease, this man's company pays $75,000 to $100,000 a year in 
asbestos-related claims.
  A research company that released one of the first studies 
establishing the health risks of asbestos--a report that saved lives 
and improved working conditions--is named in over 60,000 cases every 
year. The principals of this firm, which never used or manufactured 
asbestos products, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in 
settlements.
  Today, I am introducing the FAIR Act of 2005. This bill is based on 
bipartisan asbestos trust fund negotiations carried out during the last 
months of the 108th Congress. It puts patients ahead of plaintiffs and 
would dramatically reduce the cost of asbestos litigation. I call on us 
to work together and pass a bill that helps victims and companies 
affected by asbestos litigation, while benefiting the economy and 
boosting the stock market.

                          ____________________