Date: 2013-11-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

It is particularly galling that many of the major asbestos producers refuse to accept responsibility and that most declared bankruptcy in an attempt to limit their future liability. I ask my colleagues to vote "no" on this legislation. How much more can we put on these poor victims? If you want information. go to their counsel. Go into the courthouse. They will provide it. Lets give them relief. I oppose this legislation. Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to H.R. 982. the F.A.C.T. Act. This intrusive legislation which misuses the word "transparency." 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 diseases. We have witnessed decades of uncontrolled use of asbestos. and. even after its hazards became widely known. disease and death still persist. Hundreds of thousands of workers and family members have been exposed to. suffered or died of asbestosrelated cancers and lung disease. and the toll continues. It is estimated that each year 10.000 people in the United States are expected to die from asbestos related diseases. This is an outrageand to add to their miserythey have to deal with the onerous provisions of H.R. 982. Time and time again. asbestos victims have faced huge obstacles. inconvenient barriers. and veiled but persistent resistance to receiving compensation for their diseases and it is important to note that asbestos litigation is the longestrunning mass tort litigation in the United States. It is particularly galling that many of the major asbestos producers refused to accept responsibility and most declared bankruptcy in an attempt to limit their future liability. In 1994 Congress passed reasonably balanced special legislation that allowed the asbestos companies to set up bankruptcy trusts to compensate asbestos victims and reorganize under the bankruptcy law. But these trusts dont have adequate funding to provide just compensation. and according to a 2010 RAND study. the median payment across the trusts is only 25 percent of the claims value. With compensation from these trusts so limited. asbestos victims have sought redress from the manufacturers of other asbestos products to which they were exposedthe original tortfeasors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. better known as OSHA noted two decades ago that "It was aware of no instance in which exposure to a toxic substance has more clearly demonstrated detrimental health effects on human than has asbestos exposure." We see the harm that asbestos causes when people become sickordinary Americans who did extraordinary things to get this diseaselike go to work every day to support their families. And although the proponents of this legislation assert that it is intended to protect asbestos victims. I have not heard of a single asbestos victim who has expressed support for the H.R. 982. the FACT Act. As the widow of our former colleague Representative Bruce Vento (DMN). who passed away from mesothelioma. stated H.R. 982 "does not do a single thing" to help asbestos victims and their families. H.R. 982 does not help and actually disturbs a reasonably wellfunctioning asbestos victim compensation process. Entities facing overwhelming mass tort liability for causing asbestos injuries may. under certain circumstances. shed these liabilities and financially regain their stability in exchange for funding trusts established under Chapter II of the Bankruptcy Code to pay the claims of their victims. under certain circumstances. H.R. 982. however. interferes with this longstanding process in two ways. The FACT Act would require these trusts to: (1) file a publicly available quarterly report with the bankruptcy court that would include personally identifying information about such claimants. including their names. exposure history. and basis for any payment made to them. and (2) provide any information related to payment from and demands for payment from such trust to any party to any action in law or equity concerning liability for asbestos exposure. I urge my colleagues to vote against this utterly intrusive legislation.