Patrick Leahy: “today, I join the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Specter, in introducing an amended version of S. 852, the…”

“today, I join the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Specter, in introducing an amended version of S. 852, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2006, the FAIR Act. This legislation enhances our previous trust fund bill by adopting many of the amendments filed in February by Senators on both sides of the aisle. We have incorporated amendments that further protect against fraud and make sure the sickest victims are paid as soon as possible. We added crucial provisions that make the trust fund accessible to victims who were exposed to asbestos during the attacks on the World Trade Center and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We clarified the bill language to ensure that inactive dormant claims cannot be revived to overwhelm the trust fund. This legislation also contains a few additional changes that we believe respond directly to concerns raised by our colleagues during floor debate. The floor amendments incorporated in this bill include, among others, the Kyl funding amendment that will protect small and medium sized businesses. We also addressed the concerns of businesses that currently pay nothing or very little because they are well- insured. None of these changes undermine the existing guarantee on overall private funding at $140 billion. Also importantly, we preserved the ability of the existing bankruptcy trusts to continue paying impaired victims while the trust fund becomes operational.…”