Herb Kohl: “I rise to discuss S. 2290, the newest version of the asbestos bill. Like many of my colleagues, we want to support an…”

“I rise to discuss S. 2290, the newest version of the asbestos bill. Like many of my colleagues, we want to support an asbestos bill that ensures that sick people get compensated quickly. The current system is broken, leaving terminally ill victims to spend years waiting for compensation. Congress must act to solve this problem, but it must do so in a bipartisan fashion. I fear that will not happen this week, even though we want to remain optimistic that there is still a chance for this legislation. That said, over the past year we have made more progress than many of us would have thought. But now we are at an impasse. What is most frustrating is that the remaining issues are not irreconcilable. Let's discuss a few of the major outstanding issues that must be resolved in order to broker a compromise. First, more than any other issue, the size of the fund is preventing progress on this bill. We appear unable to negotiate, or have yet to negotiate what this number should be. To be sure, this is a complicated issue and it is especially important to get it right if we want to adequately compensate asbestos victims for the next 50 years. There is just not enough money to cover all the claims that will be made against this fund. As a result, some of us have serious concerns that this bill fails to go far enough to compensate asbestos victims suffering serious disease.”