Max Baucus: “I want to explain my decision to oppose closure on the Bankruptcy bill. I have offered an amendment to this bill modeled…”

“I want to explain my decision to oppose closure on the Bankruptcy bill. I have offered an amendment to this bill modeled on legislation I have introduced 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 will help pay for medical costs associated with treating asbestos-related disease or illness caused by exposure to deadly tremolite asbestos and other fibers released by Grace's mining operations. I offered this amendment to this bill because it presented an opportunity to make whole the people of Libby, who have suffered, while preventing a company like W.R. Grace, which has filed for bankruptcy, from emerging from that bankruptcy without setting up a health-care trust fund for its victims. I have worked very hard to make sure the people of Libby, MT, are protected in any asbestos legislation to come before Congress; to include special provisions in an asbestos bill for Libby residents that take into account the unique kind of health impacts associated with exposure to the deadly asbestos fibers from the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine. For years, I have been committed to securing a common sense solution for the residents of Libby. I strongly believe that too many people have suffered, and they deserve fair compensation.”