Blake Farenthold: “It is my privilege to be here to speak on behalf of the FACT Act. Just a quick, oversimplified history of how the…”

“It is my privilege to be here to speak on behalf of the FACT Act. Just a quick, oversimplified history of how the asbestos trusts came into being. The manufacturers of asbestos, when it became known that it was such a deadly product, realized that there weren't enough assets within the company to pay all the claims. So they availed themselves of the bankruptcy laws of this country. What the bankruptcy courts said was: Look, put all of your assets into a trust to pay off the victims and you can reorganize your company. That is how these trusts were created. So the companies are not going to be on the hook anymore. The ones that survived, reorganized, or were acquired have had their obligations, with respect to asbestos, discharged in bankruptcy. What they did to do this was they created these trusts to compensate future victims. So what is happening now is there are people who are gaming the system, multiple claims in State or Federal courts. They are going to these trusts saying: I was injured by asbestos, pay me. Which is what is supposed to happen. But you are only supposed to get compensated once for your asbestos injury. If you do multiple claims, you are taking money out of the system that would be available for future victims. Diseases like mesothelioma take years to manifest themselves.…”