Jon Kyl: “when the Judiciary committee reported an asbestos-trust fund bill in 2003, I proposed three criteria for evaluating such…”

“when the Judiciary committee reported an asbestos-trust fund bill in 2003, I proposed three criteria for evaluating such a bill: the trust fund must be fair to people with asbestos injuries; its cost must be reasonable; and it must provide a permanent solution to the asbestos-litigation crisis. Last year, I voted to report this bill out of committee because I believe that the bill does meet or has the potential to meet each of these criteria. I also voted for the bill in no small part out of appreciation for the chairman's extensive efforts to address my concerns about the bill. I particularly appreciate his assistance in adding to the bill a gatekeeper mechanism for certifying exigent claims seeking an early settlement. Any startup provision that threatens to prematurely return the trust fund to court is bad for victims, bad for participant businesses, and bad for the U.S. Government. Once this fund is started, it need to work--we cannot shift victims back and forth between the tort system and the fund, especially those victims with malignant conditions, who likely do not have long to live. The need for this bill is obvious. Current asbestos litigation practices have been accurately described by Professor Lester Brickman as a ``massively fraudulent enterprise fit to take its place among the pantheon of American scandals.'' Typically, trial lawyers consolidate thousands of claims and file them against a series of defendants.…”