June 29th, 2005

The asbestos trust fund has always been a controversial topic with many supporters and also a great deal of opposition. Even now, the battle continues with those supporting the trust fund trying to convince us that the victims of asbestos will gain from this move, and those against the bill claiming that the bill is designed to keep businesses out of hot water and nothing else.

The vice president of Freedom Works, Wayne Brough, commented, "We clearly have a system that's being exploited for opportunistic reasons, and in the process, you're having real people being harmed." His group supports lower taxes and less government.

The man who was the main leader on the bill, Senator Arlen Specter, stated, "It will enable thousands of victims of asbestos, who've been able to collect nothing, to collect now from this fund. They've been unable to collect anything because their companies are bankrupt."

A public Citizen official also added comments about the bill, stating: "Many companies that are liable for this problem are going to be let off the hook. They are only going to be paying pennies on the dollar into this trust fund."