Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Chairman GOODLATTE and Ranking Member CONYERS. thank you for managing this legislation. and thank you. Mr. CONYERS. for yielding the time. Many of us in cases dealing with making sure our cities work. sometimes we have a oneway street. and we gravitate toward the oneway street because we might be able to move faster down that oneway street. That is traffic flow. But when we talk about justice for people. a oneway street doesnt work because that means only one group of people can find justice at the courthouseand that is what this legislation does. It is a oneway street. Only one group gets victory and justice because only one group is not required to be transparent. The other group has to be transparent. They cant get on the oneway street. I oppose this legislation because it requires the Federal class action to have each class member suffer the same type and same scope of injury as the named class. I heard it on the floor by one of our distinguished Members saying that it is the broken arm group. If you have got a broken arm. you are in the class. if you have a broken leg. you arent. but it came about through the same incident. That is an unfair and impractical way of getting justice for the American people. The second reason I oppose this legislation is because it would invade the privacy of asbestos victims by requiring the posting of personal exposure and medical information online and erect new barriers to victims receiving compensation for their asbestos illness. Thousands of workers and family members have been exposed to. suffered. or died of asbestosrelated cancers and lung disease. It is particularly outrageous that many of the major asbestos producers refuse to accept responsibility. I would make the argument that many of us knew a very dear friend. Congressman Bruce Vento. I understand his wife may be in the gallery. I think it is important that we think of the asbestos victims and their families who suffered from mesothelioma. as Congressman Vento did. and died. His wife requested an opportunity to testify so that the voices of their family members could be heard on this bill. but she was turned down. I will include that letter in the RECORD. In the last Congress. she and two other asbestos victims repeatedly requested to testify on the FACT Act. but they were turned down. Re Asbestos Patients and Their Families Say "Listen to Us"-Oppose Section 3 of H.R. 1927. the SoCalled "FACT Act" DEAR REPRESENTATIVE: We write to express our strong opposition to the misnamed "Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act" (the FACT Act). which has been incorporated as Section 3 of H.R. 1927. the "Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act." Sponsors of the FACT Act claim that the legislation will "increase relief for victims of asbestos." We are asbestos patients and family members of loved ones who have died or presently suffer from the wrongful and deceitful conduct of asbestos companies. We are from states and districts across the United States. We are Republicans and Democrats. We represent current and former workers. veterans. police officers. firefighters. homemakers and children. We have come together to express our unquestioned opposition to this legislation and our utter outrage that the House may pass it without even giving usthe "Real People." not of Washington. but the actual victims of asbestos exposures a chance to testify on the record about the billeven though supporters claim it is in our interest! The fact is the socalled FACT Act is not in the interest of asbestos victims. The bill. as it is designed to do. will make it harder for victims to seek justice for their injuries and suffering. It is in the interest of the companies that are lobbying for itthe companies that used asbestos. knowing that it was a deadly toxin. exposed their workers and the public. and are now seeking to use Congress to shield them from legal liability for their behavior. We are horrified by this reality and we are going to do our best to let all Americans know what is going on here. Many of us traveled to Washington. DC in February to watch the hearing on the FACT Act. Our groups spokesperson. Susan Vento. the widow of the late Congressman Bruce Vento who passed away from mesothelioma in 2000. had requested an opportunity to testify so that the voices of the people who are most affected by this bill would be heard. But she was turned down. In the last Congress. Sue and two other asbestos victims repeatedly requested to testify on the FACT Act. but they. too. were turned down each time. Tragically. one of those victims passed away from asbestos disease. To date. not one person who has been directly affected by the ravages of asbestos disease has been permitted to testify about this legislation. The bills supporters claim to care about victims. yet we have been treated with disrespect and neglect every step of the way. There is really no mystery why supporters of the legislation dont want to hear from usits because they know that this legislation was never intended to benefit victims. This legislation is being advanced at the request of the companies that used asbestos and concealed the dangers from their workers. employees and consumers. many of whom are paying with their very lives due to these deadly exposures. Now these companies are seeking to shield themselves from responsibility under the guise of imposing "transparency" on asbestos victims. Congress should not favor asbestos wrongdoers over the interests of patients and families.