Arlen Specter: “I would say that this is absolutely minimal to not fall backward. Earlier this week, in addition to Dr. Zerhouni's…”

“I would say that this is absolutely minimal to not fall backward. Earlier this week, in addition to Dr. Zerhouni's testimony, we heard testimony from research applicants, and they are falling off. We are losing the best and the brightest of the talent. So this is minimal, just to tread water. Amendment No. 505 I now turn to a second amendment which I propose to offer, and that is an amendment which deals with legislation to reform asbestos litigation. There have been efforts made to deal with the avalanche of asbestos injury cases, with the attendant bankruptcies and with tens of thousands of people left unable to collect for very serious, sometimes deadly, injuries because companies have gone into bankruptcy. On a number of occasions, the Supreme Court of the United States has urged Congress to deal with this problem. In the 109th Congress, the Judiciary Committee undertook an enormous job, reported out a comprehensive reform bill after many hearings and complicated markups-- all of that is part of the record, which I will not repeat now. In the intervening period of time, $140 billion that had been available for a trust fund has been reduced very substantially by the formation of bankruptcy trusts. So we are now compelled to recast the legislation. We are now looking at a reduced trust fund, and we are looking at dealing only with victims of mesothelioma, which is a deadly ailment.”