Senator Murray (D-WA)Re-Introduces Ban Asbestos Act (S.1115), Thanks MARF!
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On May 22, 2003, Senator Patty Murray reintroduced the Ban Asbestos Act. Chris Hahn, MARF's executive director, along with Sen. Mark Dayton and Lt. Col. James Zumwalt, spoke in favor of the long-overdue bill at the press conference. A full report from Chris Hahn is forthcoming. MARF has been working with Senator Murray's staff very closely the past year to help create a program to fund research on a cure for mesothelioma, build a national registry/database, and to fund up to 10 centers of Mesothelioma excellence for treatment. For a complete copy of the bill, please Click Here (NOTE: you will need to view the article [.pdf] using Adobe Acrobat).
The below is a copy of the language of the bill regarding the creation of Mesothelioma Centers of Excellence SEC. 417E. MESOTHELIOMA RESEARCH AND TREATMENT CENTERS.
The below is a press release from Sen. Murray's office, dated May 22, 2003. This was a very active week on asbestos safety, and today was a great day in our efforts to protect Americans from deadly asbestos. First, at a press conference this afternoon, Senator Murray re-introduced her "Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2003." She was joined by
ABOUT MURRAY'S BILL Murray's legislation
Murray's bill is cosponsored by Senators Max Baucus (Montana), Barbara Boxer (California), Maria Cantwell (Washington), Mark Dayton (Minnesota), Jim Jeffords (Vermont) and Patrick Leahy (Vermont). The bill number is S. 1115. A CRITICAL WEEK With your help, for the past three years Senator Murray has worked to ban asbestos and raise awareness about its dangers. She introduced similar legislation in the previous session of Congress. This year, however, the chances of Murray's bill passing have improved dramatically because of other events that happened this week. On Monday, the EPA issued a report it had commissioned, which calls for the U.S. to ban the production, manufacture, and distribution of asbestos. The report gives Murray's legislation a shot in the arm. Details: http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=204019 In addition, on Wednesday the EPA finally launched a public education campaign to warn homeowners about the dangers of Zonolite Attic Insulation. (Details: Click here ) For more than a year, Murray has pressured the Administration to launch the campaign. You may recall the press conference she held in February at a Spokane home that was contaminated with asbestos-tainted insulation (Details: http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=191207 ). Or you may remember the many letters she has sent to the White House and EPA. See Murray's response to the public awareness effort http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=204142 Murray's bill also benefits from- the key Senators who are cosponsors
Representatives by Rep. Henry Waxman of California. All these factors give Senator Murray's bill a greater chance of passing this year. By the way, last month Senator Murray launched a new website at http://murray.senate.gov In addition, we've just updated our asbestos section at http://murray.senate.gov/asbestos Finally, given your interest in asbestos legislation, we wanted to share with you all the material we distributed at today's press conference. Links are below. Thank you again for subscribing to Senator Murray's Asbestos Update-Senator Murray's Office May 22, 2003 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ITEMS FROM TODAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE
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By CHARLES POPE
Friday, May 23, 2003 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/123339_asbestos23.html WASHINGTON -- Encouraged by a federal study's unexpected conclusion that asbestos should be banned, Sen. Patty Murray introduced legislation yesterday that would remove thousands of common products laced with the cancer-causing mineral from the market. The bill is nearly identical to one she introduced last year which sank quickly in the Republican-controlled Senate. Murray, while acknowledging a decidedly uphill fight, said she hopes recent shifts in federal policy and a rising profile of the issue on Capitol Hill will produce better results this year. "I've been told I can't get things done. I've been told I'm taking on fights that are too big. Well, this fight is big and ... I'll tell you we have to do this. It is the right thing to do, and I will fight every single day to get this done," she said. Among other things, Murray's bill calls for a complete ban of asbestos in products within two years after the measure becomes law. It also provides for more research into the causes and treatment of asbestos-related cancers and requires the federal government to conduct a more aggressive campaign to educate the public about the risks of asbestos. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has introduced an identical version in the House. Murray pointed out that a spectrum of common products from brake shoes to roofing tile to fire-resistant clothing contains asbestos. Often, she said, consumers have no idea the product contains a substance that has been linked to several types of cancer and whose use is banned in more than 30 countries. Murray is setting her target decidedly low, acknowledging that the effort to ban asbestos could take years. "A successful year is having the bill introduced, having a hearing on it and educating my colleagues in the United States Senate to the fact that asbestos is not yet banned," she said. Murray believes Congress eventually will agree to a ban. She said her cause got an ironic boost by the Environmental Protection Agency, the same agency that has been one of the slowest to acknowledge asbestos' risk. This week, EPA formally cautioned homeowners against disturbing and inhaling vermiculite insulation used in attics and walls because it could contain low levels of microscopic asbestos. The agency is also beefing up a public-awareness campaign designed to help consumers determine if their home contains contaminated vermiculite. That effort came on the heels of a surprising report by an independent EPA panel that called for the ban of asbestos nationwide. "A clearly defined legislative ban on the production, manufacture, distribution and importation of products with commercially added asbestos is the most direct means to address concerns about remaining health risk and reduce future costs for facility owners and managers. Such a ban should be proposed by the Congress, promptly debated and conclusively resolved," the report said. Murray's bill was joined by a separate -- and more controversial -- proposal by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to provide compensation to thousands of victims of asbestos-related disease and their families. Hatch's bill, which has gotten far more attention than Murray's, would provide compensation to thousands of victims of asbestos. It would pay victims out of a $108-billion fund underwritten by industry. But the bill would cap payments at $750,000 based on the specific diagnoses, and it does not answer the question of what would happen if the fund ran out of money before all the victims were compensated. Some analysts have calculated that if every victim were compensated, the total cost could surge past $265 billion. Anticipating that the competition for limited dollars could get out of hand, Hatch's bill would establish a new five-judge federal panel to consider claims and mediate disputes. Hatch has spent months trying without success to put together a bill that could earn broad support. Most Democrats as well as labor unions and some victims oppose the plan, saying it is tilted toward protecting industry and insurance companies. The bill, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said, "is merely a vehicle to relieve businesses and insurers of hundreds of billions of dollars of liability while significantly short-changing the asbestos victims of the fair compensation they are due." The Alliance of American Insurers, which strongly supports Hatch, praised the Senate for working to address "America's asbestos litigation crisis." No matter what form Hatch's bill takes, Murray stressed that her bill to ban asbestos dovetails perfectly with efforts to compensate victims. "If we don't do that," she said of the ban, "we'll continue to need funds far into the future to deal with the lawsuits of those who have been affected. Our legislation will keep people from being exposed in the future. "It's a separate issue, but his legislation will not be necessary in the future if we ban asbestos today." Murray said she was driven to introduce the bill by the experience in Libby, Mont., a small mining town 160 miles from Spokane that for years was buried under a cloud of asbestos dust that ultimately killed 200 people. It also caused the EPA to place the entire town under a public health emergency and secured the town a spot on the Superfund list. ASBESTOS STUDY An EPA-commissioned study on asbestos found a lax approach to regulating the cancer-causing and widely available material. It recommended a clearly defined ban on the production, manufacture, distribution, and importation of products with asbestos. Congress should enact legislation to remove remaining asbestos-laden products from the market "by a specified date." Enforce existing asbestos regulations more aggressively. EXISTING ASBESTOS BANS More than 30 nations have banned or are moving to ban asbestos products. Among them are:
Argentina
P-I Washington correspondent Charles Pope can be reached at 202-263-6461 or charliepope@seattlepi.com (c) 1998-2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer *** POSTED MAY 23, 2003 *** |