Max Baucus: “I rise to speak on my pending amendment, amendment No. 50, to the bankruptcy reform bill. This is an amendment to…”

“I rise to speak on my pending amendment, amendment No. 50, to the bankruptcy reform bill. This is an amendment to correct an enormous injustice in my home State. And that is not an understatement. That is accurate. It is very accurate. It is not an overstatement. It is dead on. My amendment is based on a bill I have introduced in past Congresses to set up a permanent health care trust fund for current and former Libby residents, and former workers at the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby, MT. The trust fund would help pay for the costs of treating asbestos-related illness caused by exposure to deadly tremolite asbestos and other fibers released by Grace's mining operations. This amendment would require a company such as W.R. Grace--which has willfully harmed the innocent citizens of Libby, MT--to set up a health care trust fund for its victims before it can emerge from bankruptcy. As a result of this amendment, W.R. Grace cannot emerge from bankruptcy until it has established a trust fund of at least $250 million to cover the cost of health care for the people of Libby. The people of Libby, the Libby community, and the State of Montana face an immediate health care crisis. This crisis was caused by alarming rates of asbestos-related exposure, disease, and illness. Former Libby residents face their own personal health care crisis because they are denied access to private health insurance.”