Contact Your Senator

*Please Note: as a result of changes to the way senators' email addresses are made available and because of "spam-bots" abusing contact forms, we have been forced to disable our automatic "send a letter" form. You may still use this letter text to contact your, senator however.

Simply copy the text below, then select your state at this link to find your senator's web page, where you can paste the message into their web form.

Dear Senators:

I am writing to express my opposition to the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act. This bill does not provide the necessary protections nor provide appropriate funding to protect people like me who were exposed to asbestos containing products. Some of the problems with the bill include the following:

• The bill is under funded. Much of the $140 billion would be eaten up with the flood of initial claims, and incidence of mesothelioma is on the rise, not the decline. $140 billion is already $12 billion less than the amount proposed in 2003. The amount of funding for research, education, and prevention is likewise inadequate.
• Victims will have to endure excessive delays before receiving compensation, as past experience has shown us with similar government programs. Additionally the insistence of some manufacturers and insurers that pending, settled, and even claims for which a judgment has already been handed down, be handled by the fund, forces many victims to the process start all over again.
• Victims should be able to opt out of the fund.
• The medical criteria in this bill describing the symptoms, diagnosis, and severity of asbestos related diseases are outdated and incorrect. Any piece of legislation should follow the established American Thoracic Society guidelines to diagnose and treat asbestos related diseases.
• Many valid legal claims would have no right of recovery from the new fund, against persons or entities who would have no obligation to contribute to the fund. For instance, a suit by a state environmental agency to collect a fine or enforce a lien imposed against a contractor for improper removal of asbestos materials would be prohibited. An action by an insured against a health insurer for refusing to pay for treatment for a covered asbestos-related condition would also be prohibited under the proposed bill.
• Asbestos is still not banned.

The asbestos crisis is not a bankruptcy crisis (indeed, many of the companies that have filed bankruptcy are thriving with the same or a greater number of employees as before they filed for protection). Asbestos is a public health crisis.

Please do not support a bill that does not provide fair compensation to the victims of asbestos. Vote against this bill as it currently stands.

Thank you for your time,
[Your name appears here]

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