Blake Farenthold: “To close. There have been a lot of arguments we have heard today for and against this bill, but I think the biggest…”

“To close. There have been a lot of arguments we have heard today for and against this bill, but I think the biggest argument for it is that it preserves precious and limited resources for those who were injured by asbestos and shuts down an avenue of waste, fraud, and abuse that is being exploited right now in the current system. There has also been a lot of talk about veterans. Folks have said the FACT Act hurts veterans. I say it helps veterans. As I pointed out earlier, veterans cannot pursue litigation against the United States Government because of sovereign immunity, so they have to rely solely on the bankruptcy claims process to get recovery. That is why a significant number of veterans groups, many of whom I list earlier, have written to the committee in support of the FACT Act. In fact, let me read you the words of John Brieden, a former national commander of the American Legion, in a letter he wrote to The Hill. The FACT Act, and its sunshine provision, is strongly supported by veterans like myself who are dedicated to preserving the rapidly diminishing congressionally established asbestos trust fund for all servicemembers who have been injured by a substance we now know to be dangerous and even deadly. The best way to protect veterans and other asbestos victims from attorneys' double dipping is the FACT Act's requirement to disclose information about the trust fund claims.…”