Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 982, the so-called FACT Act. The FACT Act would require asbestos trusts to publicly disclose extensive amounts of private information about asbestos victims on a public Web site. These quarterly reports would have to describe each demand the trust received, including the name and exposure history of a claimant and the basis for any payment from the trust made to such claimant. Also required to be publicly disclosed by the trusts are a claimant's home address, work history, income, medical information, and even the last four digits of a claimant's Social Security number. Any person, including every crook in the world with Internet access, could use this information for any and all illicit purposes. That criminal or mischievous person could be your neighbor. He could be your daughter's ex-boyfriend--you know, the one you never liked and barred from coming to the house. He could be an employee on the job, somebody who is vying for your job. He could be anybody who wants to do harm to you or your family. It is a serious threat to asbestos victims' security and privacy, and it is an unfair and unnecessary advantage bestowed upon the asbestos manufacturers. The truth of the matter is that such information is available to the tortfeasors during the course of the litigation. Federal and/or State Rules of Civil Procedure allow a defendant to gain all relevant information during the discovery process about a claimant's exposure.…”