WASHINGTON — The widow of Rep. Bruce Vento, D-St. Paul, on Tuesday will join Minnesota's two U.S. senators in urging a nationwide ban on asbestos products.

Vento, a 24-year congressman, died in 2000 from mesothelioma, a type of cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. On Capitol Hill today, Susan Vento, along with Sens. Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton, both D-Minn., will urge support for a bill that would ban asbestos from any new product, finance research into asbestos-related diseases, and support treatment centers.

Although asbestos was removed from most construction materials in the mid-1970s, the material is still produced and used in automobile brake pads, roofing shingles and other products. The federal government's earlier attempts to ban asbestos have been overturned or blocked, leading to a widespread misconception.

"The conventional wisdom in this country is that asbestos has been banned, but the reality is, it has not been," said Todd Webster, a spokesman for Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the bill's main author. "It continues to be put in products to this day."

Doctors have known for decades that repeatedly inhaling asbestos fibers greatly increases the risk of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs that's usually fatal. The cancer can take decades to appear. It most often strikes men who've worked in the construction, manufacturing, mining and shipbuilding industries, where exposure to asbestos was once commonplace.

The growing toll from asbestos-related illnesses — and the mountain of lawsuits they produced — prompted both industry and government to work for the removal of asbestos from most products since the 1970s. Several foreign countries, including France and Great Britain, have adopted bans.

Murray's office estimated the cost of the bill at $32.5 million, half of it for the Environmental Protection Agency to implement the ban.

Tom Webb can be reached at twebb@krwashington.com or (202) 383-6049.

By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press Writer
http://www.startribune.com/stories/468/2914531.html

Published Jun 19, 2002

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Like many Americans, Brian Harvey thought asbestos had been banned.

The cancer-causing material, once widely used for insulation and fireproofing, was removed from most construction materials in the 1970s.

Contrary to widespread belief, however, asbestos is not banned in the United States.

The fibrous material is still produced and is used in roofing shingles, car brake pads, gaskets and other products. Attempts by the federal government to ban asbestos have been overturned or blocked.

Harvey, a former software developer at Washington State University, learned about the continued use of asbestos after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a type of cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos fibers, in 1999.

Harvey, now 58, was exposed to asbestos while working his way through college at a Shelton, Wash., lumber mill in the 1960s.

As shocked as he was by the cancer diagnosis, Harvey was more surprised -- and angry -- to learn that asbestos was not illegal. At least 20 countries, including France and Britain, have adopted bans.

"Asbestos is all around us, " Harvey said Tuesday. " It' s in brake shoes at the local garage, it' s on your roof. We can eliminate asbestos in our living environment. It' s up to us."

Harvey, of Marysville, Wash., was in the nation' s capital to support a bill that would ban asbestos products by 2005. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a public education campaign about the dangers of asbestos and its presence in vermiculite, a once common product used in home insulation.

"We' re here today to make sure that all Americans know that asbestos is still not banned and is still not safe, " Murray said. " It continues to be put in products to this day."

Democratic Sens. Mark Dayton and Paul Wellstone of Minnesota are among the bill' s co-sponsors. They were joined at Tuesday' s news conference by Susan Vento, widow of former Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minn., who died in 2000 from mesothelioma.

Like Harvey, Bruce Vento had worked in factories as a college student, only to be struck down by disease decades later.

Susan Vento called it ironic that her husband, a physical fitness buff, died of cancer at age 60, just months after his illness was diagnosed.

Her husband' s death showed the cruelty of mesothelioma, Susan Vento said, and is compelling evidence why asbestos should be banned.

Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. James Zumwalt II, whose father, former Navy Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr., died of mesothelioma, said the United States has been slow to recognize the dangers of asbestos.

"We knew about the health concerns related to exposure to asbestos by the early 1900s, " Zumwalt said. " Had appropriate action been taken back then, my father might well be alive today. I am saddened to think that more loved ones will be lost well into the 21st century because we have still failed to take appropriate action."

Murray, who held a hearing on asbestos last year, conceded that her bill does not yet have Republican support. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is co-sponsor of the bill, and Murray said she hopes to gain support from that state' s Republican senator, Conrad Burns. The EPA is investigating a vermiculite mine near Libby, Mont., that has been linked to some 200 deaths.

"The hardest part (of winning support for the bill) is that too many people believe asbestos is already banned, " Murray said. " The reality is it has not been."

Wednesday, June 19, 2002
By CHARLES POPE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/75104_asbestos19.shtml

WASHINGTON -- Acknowledging that passage will be difficult, Sen. Patty Murray introduced legislation yesterday to ban asbestos, a known carcinogen that is outlawed in 20 nations but is still available in an array of everyday products sold in the United States.

"We're here today to make sure all Americans know that asbestos is still not banned and is still not safe," Murray, D-Wash., said at a news conference, flanked by victims of asbestos-related cancer.

"Today, men and women are dying because they handled asbestos or were exposed to products which contain asbestos," she said. "To this day, some of those products still contain asbestos. While other countries have banned asbestos and protected their citizens, the United States still has not."

Under Murray's bill, six forms of asbestos must be banned by 2005. That requirement parallels regulations that were adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989.

A federal court, however, overturned them in a case brought by the asbestos industry.

The bill would also require the EPA to launch an aggressive campaign to educate the public about the dangers of asbestos.

A special effort would be directed toward vermiculite insulation, which contains asbestos and is found in 35 million homes and businesses.

The bill would also require more research into mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos that kills 2,000 each year.

Murray conceded that her legislation faces an uphill battle because of the influence of the asbestos industry. And, she said, supporters of banning asbestos must overcome a common perception that the material is already outlawed.

Murray herself was once in that category.

"I was shocked to learn that asbestos is still being used in products on purpose. Today, asbestos is still used to make roofing products, gaskets, brakes and many other products. In 2001, the U.S. consumed 13,000 metric tons of it. Asbestos is still entering the product stream in America despite the known dangers to human health," she said.

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., a co-sponsor of the bill, was surprised as well.

"I, too, did not realize it had not been banned. It seems so obvious and common sense," he said. "Once again, corporate greed has triumphed over the greater good in this country."

In pressing her case, Murray will be helped by the survivors of prominent people who have been struck down by asbestos-related cancer.

One is James Zumwalt, the son of Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, who died in 2000 from mesothelioma.

"A question bantered about recently after 9/11 is who knew what and when did they know it," Zumwalt said. "This same question should be asked about the lethal toxicity of asbestos. There is a written record, stretching back almost two millenniums, indicating there is a linkage between working with asbestos and lung-related disease. But even today, we have failed to take the steps necessary to protect future generations of Americans from the horrors of asbestos exposure."

Rob Hotakainen and Shira Kantor
Star Tribune
Published Jun 19, 2002
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/2914090.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans would be shocked to know that asbestos is still being used in products such as brake pads, roofing shingles and insulation, says Sen. Paul Wellstone. "It is killing and injuring countless numbers of people."

Sen. Mark Dayton is among those who didn't realize that asbestos could still be legally added to products. "Once again, you realize that corporate greed has triumphed over the greater good," he said.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Democrats teamed up with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to introduce a bill that would ban the use of asbestos in the United States by 2005.

It's partly a salute to their friend, Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minn., who died in 2000 of mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

His widow, Sue Vento, appeared on Capitol Hill to promote the bill, saying: "It is time to eliminate this horrific disease."

Victims aren't the only ones trying to get Congress' attention. Business and insurance groups say they need help to limit a flood of asbestos-related lawsuits.

"We don't think the judiciary can deal with the entire matter," said Jan Amundson of the National Association of Manufacturers.

She said an escalating number of asbestos lawsuits -- many involving claimants who were exposed but are not ill -- is overwhelming companies, often forcing them to seek bankruptcy protection after they pay large court settlements.

Companies have paid more than $20 billion in settlements, according to the Asbestos Alliance, a group of business and insurance interests that is lobbying Congress for help. The alliance is pushing for legislation that would include "minimum medical criteria" that claimants would have to meet to sue.

Amundson said the alliance wants to see sick people compensated. But with more than 200,000 asbestos claims pending in state and federal courts, she said, the backlog is keeping the truly sick from getting their money.

Last year, bills were introduced in the House and Senate that would provide manufacturers with federal money to aid in asbestos compensation. According to Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, a sponsor of the proposed legislation, the federal government should share liability and ensure that companies stay solvent because of its failure to ban asbestos.

"The more asbestos manufacturers and distributors that go bankrupt, the less chance victims have to receive compensation," DeWine said.

But Amundson said Democrats, because many receive support from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, are not receptive to aiding the Asbestos Alliance.

The trial lawyers are "very wealthy and they're very focused on supporting candidates that protect their unlimited rights to sue," she said.

Carlton Carl, a spokesman for the lawyers association, said it supports members of both political parties.

"It's difficult to convince members of Congress that they should sponsor a bill that would bail out the asbestos industry, which knowingly exposed hundreds of thousands of Americans -- millions of Americans -- to their lethal product," he said.

Dayton said the bill to ban asbestos is the kind that would have gotten Bruce Vento's "political juices going," calling him "a hero to many of us."

Sue Vento, a former elementary school teacher who works for Education Minnesota, said her husband was determined to beat his cancer and was diligent about his health.

"I can't help but think of the irony of this," she said. "He worked his way though college in factories on the east side of St. Paul to become a science teacher. He was exposed to a disease that for 60 years we've known about."

Despite that knowledge, she said, science, industry and government "haven't been able to get our act together" to ban asbestos.

Murray said the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as many as 3,000 products still contain asbestos.

"Like most Americans, I thought asbestos had been banned," she said.