Senators try to forge bipartisan U.S. asbestos bill

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Senators are trying to jump-start stalled efforts on asbestos legislation by forging a bipartisan plan from proposals by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter and Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

The effort aims to attract the support of Democrats while engaging with a group of Republicans who have criticized parts of Specter’s plan to create a $140 billion fund that would take the compensation of asbestos victims out of the courts.

"We’ll try to work things out, between the two bills,” Feinstein from California, told reporters outside the Senate.

Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had hoped to introduce a bill early this year for a fund supported by companies and insurers facing asbestos litigation, but neither Republicans nor Democrats have warmed to his draft.

Republicans say there cannot be “leakage” of claims from the fund back to the court system, while Democrats worry that claimants will have nowhere to go if the fund runs dry.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he was working with Feinstein but if Democratic support did not materialize, then Republicans would have to proceed with their own asbestos bill.

“So far, notwithstanding his valiant efforts, Sen. Specter hasn’t been able to get a Democrat on the bill,” Cornyn said.

Republicans have the majority on the Judiciary Committee and in the Senate, but have insufficient votes to overcome procedural hurdles Democrats could erect on the Senate floor.

Asbestos was used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists say its inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases. Hundreds of thousands of injury claims have been filed in U.S. courts, bankrupting dozens of companies. 

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