January 14th, 2006

Earlier this month President Bush made a speech at the Chicago Economic Club, reiterating the importance of getting the much talked about asbestos trust fund bill passed this year. Former US Senator Don Nickles issued a statement in response to the President’s speech.

Senator Nickles’ statement read: "I agree with President Bush that Congress should enact positive asbestos reform this year. Unfortunately, the bill reported out of the Judiciary Committee is seriously flawed, and I believe unconstitutional, because it takes more than $7 billion in assets from court-approved bankruptcy reorganization settlements set aside in trusts to pay asbestos claims. Hopefully, when the Senate takes up the asbestos bill it will fix this problem and pass a bill that does not confiscate these assets and will abide with the Constitution."

The current trust fund bill would entail seizure of the assets of other asbestos trust funds, which could mean that many people lose out on their asbestos claims after assuming that they had been or were being dealt with. With the current bill, these asbestos funds, which have paid out billions in compensation, would have to pursue claims through the national trust fund – and many are worried that a lot of people will find themselves no longer eligible for compensation.

Senator Nickles was speaking for the Common Interest Group as a spokesperson, and this is a group of asbestos settlement trusts already in existence.