In a recent letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, Gulf War veteran Benjamin Warner urged Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to support the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act (S. 357).
The FACT Act would require asbestos-liability trust-fund managers to submit quarterly reports on claims that have been filed and/or paid out to help reduce fraudulent claims.
“As a retired military veteran, I urge your support for this legislation,” Warner said in the letter. “The unfortunate truth is that many veterans were exposed to asbestos during their service to our country, often asbestos-insulation products.”
Reiterating that the majority of asbestos and asbestos-insulation manufacturers have entered bankruptcy and established trust funds to handle their resulting liabilities, Warner spoke on behalf of veterans who are “disproportionately and negatively impacted by waste, fraud and abuse within the asbestos trust system.”
Warning that if funds are funneled to claimants fraudulently, truly legitimate claims will be damaged. Warner illustrated models for greater transparency, citing his home state of West Virginia as an example of a jurisdiction that has enacted laws or guidelines to require more transparency in asbestos trust-fund management.
Ohio became the first state in the nation to require plaintiffs in such cases to file trust claims before proceeding to trial in 2012, Warner said, with Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin following suit. Referring to the U.S. House’s recent passage of companion legislation on Jan. 8, Warner said, “I am hopeful the Senate will follow suit. Thanks for your consideration of this important matter.”
The hand-signed letter was copied to Sens. Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).
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