Summary

SENATE FLOOR DEBATE The Senate convenes to begin a period of morning business. Thereafter, begin consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 852, the Asbestos Claims bill. The Senate will recess between 12:30pm and 2:15pm for the Republican policy luncheons. A cloture VOTE is expected on the motion to proceed at 6pm tomorrow night. 11:00:13.6 whether we can, but we're trying to do that and we may be successful. but if a point of order is raised on the merits, it ought to be examined by senators because there is no impact on the federal budget. 11:00:31.7 technically the expenditures are made by the federal budget because the funds go through the department of labor. but they are only a condueity. no federal money. so that if you want to use 60 points, 60 votes to defeat the 11:00:48.0 bill, the point of order may be available or as i say, may not be. but substantively there's nothing to the point of order because this bill does not have any impact on the federal budget because there's no federal money. you department of labor is just 11:01:03.2 plain and simple a conduit. similarly, if you want to defeat the bill on an obstructionist tactic which is what is being undertaken now on a filibuster 11:01:18.6 on the motion to proceed, the 60 votes can be used. senator reid was on the floor yesterday and we had a disagreement. you might call it a disagreement but the one thing that he did 11:01:36.9 talk about involved the problems of people suffering from other problems. there's no doubt that the leader of the opposition, 11:01:52.2 obstructionist number one, the senator from nevada concedes the problem. concedes that we have a major problem. that ought to be sufficient to proceed to see if we can solve the problem. occasionally around here, we ought to deal way pending matter 11:02:09.3 whether it's a point of order or a motion to proceed on the merits. what is involved in the motion to proceed is the decision by the united states senate that we ought to consider legislation on this issue. 11:02:22.0 if somebody as an amendment, we are open. we have accepted more than 40 amendments in the committee. if somebody has a problem with the constituents i invite them to come to see me, my staff or senator leahy. 11:02:42.2 we have bipartisan support for this bill. senator leahy, senator kohl and senator feinstein voted the bill out of committee. we have other support among democrats and i am talking to senators on an individual basis and have visited with many of 11:02:58.1 them on their -- in their offices and i'm available to do more. but the issue on a motion to proceed is whether you have a problem, which we certainly do and whether legislation ought to be considered. and if somebody has amendments f 11:03:14.2 somebody has a constituent who thinks that the constituent company is being asked to pay for than a fair share or is jeopardizing the company, come to us. we have been considering 11:03:28.6 individual cases and we have been solving them in many, many instances and we're open for business. the distinguished senator from montana is going to address a problem in libby, montana, where they've had environmental problems, asbestos was used in a reckless, disgraceful, criminal 11:03:47.9 matter by the w.r. grace company and we're working to accommodate libby, montana and there may be more that we can do for that issue. and there are other so called hot spots around the country and we're taking them up there have been issues raised by the 11:04:05.7 medical criteria. we have studies by the institute of medicine. if you have a problem, we'll solve it. we want this bill to go forward but on the narrow issue that we're voting on at 6:00 this evening, any senator who votes 11:04:20.2 not to proceed is saying to his constituents, is saying to people suffering from mesothelioma, people suffering from asbestos exposure, anybody who votes no on the motion to proceed is saying there's no 11:04:37.2 problem. i think that's a pretty tough 11:04:39.7 vote to explain, pretty tough vote to explain that there is no problem and it ought not to be considered by the united states senate. yesterday in the discussions, you might call them that with senator reid, i said, that this 11:04:57.3 was certainly the most complex bill i've seen in the time i've been at the senate. and i think it is fair and accurate to say that it's the most complex piece of legislation ever considered by a legislative body. 11:05:11.0 now, i know that's a pretty grandiose statement and i don't know all the legislation considered by legislative bodies but i think it's accurate. i challenge anybody to bring to my attention, to the attention of the senate any legislative proposal which has ever been 11:05:27.8 undertaken and analyzed that is more explicated with this one. there's been more attention in dozens literally hundreds of meetings involving judge becker 11:05:42.8 and myself and senators and enormous work has been done by nor leahy. and i owe him a debt of gratitude for his cooperation and his leadership. senator feinstein has had innovative proposals on 11:05:59.4 start-up. and as i say, senator leahy, senator feinstein and senator kohl are cosponsored. so if anybody has an issue, i invite them to come forward. but i think it is an unconscionable vote to vote no on the motion to proceed. 11:06:15.5 i yield the floor. the presiding officer: who yields time? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. burns: mr. president, today 11:06:32.2 i rise on this subject and first of all i want to congratulate -- maybe that's not the word. the chairman of the judiciary committee, for tackling this important problem. i can't think of a time or a 11:06:52.4 piece of legislation that's been so complicated and so important to my state of mn. so i want to -- i want to tell the chairman of the judiciary committee and the statement he made is right on target. even though some of us have been 11:07:10.5 impacted by asbestos and asbestos-related diseases take this very, very serious. we need to vote to proceed. on want to tell you why i'm 11:07:29.3 involved in this and there's a couple of other issues that are also burning in our office right now that need my personal attention but when you go to libby, montana, it's a little town no northwest montana on the 11:07:48.7 cutany river. and the w.r. grace company had a mine up there. and if you're not torn on this issue, both sides of it, the statement of eva thompston from 11:08:04.7 up there i'll just read her statement. that's why i'm giving my statement with regard to libby because it is an isolated case. eva thompson said i have two sons, both of them and myself 11:08:21.5 has asbestos-related disease. but they are not eligible by the standards in the existing bill as it is today. if the bill cannot be done right to protect us victims, please don't pass it at all. 11:08:40.2 we place 25 crosses in the cemetery this memorial day in remembrance of asbestos victims. there's more than 20 new crosses 11:08:53.2 this year. we need help, real help, and she thanks me. yet, i have another one from charlotte wade who says, "please don't forget us. 11:09:07.9 i watched my dad jack die in 2002 --" and her mother margaret die and suffocate from asbestos in 2004. she's, "i'm next. i've been on oxygen since the 11:09:25.5 year 2000. my three grown children, no doubt, will follow." jim davidson, long time resident of libby, montana. 11:09:38.9 he has been diagnosed with mesothelioma -- i think that's the way it is. "because of the short time i have left, i'm virtually interested in seeing that a compromise is reached to allow 11:09:52.2 passage of some time of -- type of relief to me and all others affected by asbestos and worse. as you know, there's no other avenue left to those of us in libby, montana, because of the bankruptcy of w.r. grace. 11:10:09.7 so i urge to you work for some type of help for us." those are just three of hundreds in libby, montana, that makes its is a special place and harbors a special place in this 11:10:24.8 piece of legislation. so i rise today to ask the members of the u.s. senate to remember the plight of the residents of this small town as this debate over asbestos bill continues. 11:10:40.1 i know a lot of folks have taken issue with the assertion that the libby resident deserve special consideration. well, i'm hear today to reiterate why this consideration is needed. the asbestos contamination in 11:10:56.6 libby is as widespread as any area in the country. though a sparsely populated town, the residents of that city have been profoundly affected by this spread of asbestos-related diseases. 11:11:13.4 the asbestos exposure in libby is unlike any other place in the united states. while i know my colleagues lament that they have similar situations in their own states, i ask them to simply listen. the scotch asbestos exposure in 11:11:32.8 libby, montana, may not -- scope of asbestos exposure in libby, montana, may never be known, but let me assure, you mr. president, that it is significant. when governor martz of montana executed the so-called silver 11:11:50.6 bullet under circla, she triggered i fasttrack listing of libby on the national priorities list. there's only been one other time when the silver bullet has been 11:12:05.3 triggered due to asbestos. but that case in arizona was limited to 17 square acres, not the contamination of an entire town. and unlike the case in globe, 11:12:23.5 arizona, the asbestos in libby, montana, can't simply be covered in a filter fabric and soil and rock fenced to keep everyone out. unfortunate we can't control the exposure in that way. 11:12:38.3 and the people in minnesota -- in libby don't want that. so i challenge anyone -- anyone -- from any state to identified a -- identify a town anywhere else in the country 11:12:54.7 that has these kind of situations. i just want to show you right behind me is the zonolite mine that was opened in 1924. by the 1950, cases of previously diagnosed as tuberculosis were 11:13:16.7 instead cases of asbestos exposure. the town of libby is located in a valley where the wr grace processed o'er from the contaminated mine, more than a half million pounds of asbestos 11:13:29.0 a day was pros sesd. the libby case is not an isolated case to the exposure within the confines of a factory. instead, asbestos was everywhere. community exposure were rampant. contaminated properties 11:13:46.2 including everything from the libby community boat dock to the high school -- the high school track. i want to put this next -- this next picture up. this is important -- this is more than just a family hugging a mine worker after coming home 11:14:06.8 and complaining -- claiming scproash your -- exposure. this is about asbestos exposure so significant that asbestos fibers fell like snow from the sky. this is not very far from the mine. 11:14:19.2 it's not very far from their loading and processing areas. this is the baseball field in libby, montana. children played on piles of vermiculite and all around town 11:14:36.6 finding humor in taking a match to a fiber which would ignite. houses all over town were insulated with asbestos-contaminated insulation. 11:14:49.5 so my point is this morning. i invite anybody to visit this small town in northwest, montana. though i doubt my colleagues will take me up on the offer. until imcomes time, summer, 11:15:09.6 maybe and fishing is pretty good i could probably lure some of you out there but this is extremely important that other senators understand the vast difference between this town of montana and various processing 11:15:22.5 plants that were located around the country. they were in isolated and enclosed areas. this was free to the wound(injuryies, to the winds of the value.n and one cannot just sit here and 11:15:40.8 try to draw a mental picture of the impact that it had. it's extremely important that senators during this debate must understand this is a special 11:15:55.5 place, a special circumstance, and special people who still live there. i want to thank the chairman of the judiciary committee. senator specter has done marvelous work on this. 11:16:11.2 and to tackle this issue, as big as it is, and though we may have some disagreements on the size of the trust fund, who pays into the trust fund, how much they pay, the formulas, all of this, but i'm sort of on the other side of this. 11:16:28.0 mine is the protection of people who have seriously been impacted by this thing we call asbestos since 1924. walk through the cemeteries and see those families, and to have 11:16:43.2 people come to your town hall meeting short of breath, being suffocated by this disease, or any disease related to asbestos. i only hope we can continue to 11:16:59.2 work together not only to safeguard these libby provisions, but to improve them as well. and again i want to thank my chairman. he has -- he's a man of great, of great bravery to take this 11:17:18.8 issue on. and it is troubling. it is complex. but i'll tell you, it is important. and i thank the chair, and i yield the floor. 11:17:34.3 mr. specter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. specter: mr. president, i thank the distinguished senator from montana for those very important comments. and i commend him for his diligence in looking after his constituents with special 11:17:48.5 reference to what has gone on in libby, montana. he has outlined the problem, walking through the cemeteries, seeing the people who have been submiten since the 1920's -- who have been smitten since the 11:18:07.2 1920's. he underscores in very graphic and forceful terms the problems which we have here. i hear him when he talks about libby, montana. we have been addressing it with a special provision, and we will do more if we possibly can. and i've talked to senator burns 11:18:23.6 off the floor on many occasions and have heard the very serious problems which the people of montana face in libby and i've heard the problem that these hot spots created around the country. 11:18:38.2 and we will do everything we can. but i want to compliment the senator from montana for his very thoughtful statements, and thank him for his support on the motion to proceed. and here again, anybody who has listened to senator conrad burns 11:18:56.3 who doesn't think we ought to proceed and take up this problem simply has his or her head in the sand. it is an unconscionable vote to vote against a motion to proceed. mr. president, senator santorum was on the floor a few moments ago. 11:19:12.2 and he proposes to speak on the steelers great victy. i'm due at the swearing in of the ambassador to finland, so i will have 0 leave the floor in a 11:19:28.9 few moments. but i'd like to take a moment or two to compliment the pittsburgh 11:19:35.3 steelers on a phenomenal season and great super bowl victory. i regretted that i could not go to detroit to see the game, but the session had been scheduled many weeks ago to bring in attorney general gonzales on the 11:19:53.2 electronic surveillance issue at 9:30 yesterday morning. i checked it out, and the earliest i could have gotten back to washington would have been the middle of the night. and i thought it more sensible to attend those important duties on the hearing with the attorney 11:20:10.8 general and to watch the game on television. and i was very, very heartened to see that game to, see that 75-yard run, the longest in super bowl history, to see that 11:20:28.1 phenomenal catch, practically a hail mary on the three-yard line. to see the young quarterback, roethlisberger, carry it over in replay and the great dispute about whether there was a 11:20:42.0 touchdown. and it was a touchdown. and earlier touchdown was nullified when the seattle receiver had pushed off and had been called with an infraction. and then when the steelers were driving at 14-3, with a put-away 11:21:04.4 touchdown, intercepted pass and a long run-back. and the seahawks came within 14-10 and then the seahawks mounted a drive and were closing in on a touchdown which would 11:21:16.9 have put them ahead 17-14. the steeler interception so that it was a phenomenal, phenomenal and thrilling game. and to have the steelers from a wild card position go on the road and beat cincinnati and 11:21:32.6 then go on the road and beat denver and indianapolis, and that phenomenal tackle made by roethlisberger, which may be as important steeler loe as the 11:21:55.0 immaculate conception frank ohara years ago, as you can tell, mr. president, i'm a die-hard fan. the steelers have brought great credit with their victory, great 11:22:07.5 credit to america with their sportsmanship and accomplishment. a special tribute to the rooney family which owns the pittsburgh steelers. i had the privilege of knowing mr. art rooney, who bought the steelers in about 1933 for 11:22:27.0 reputedly $2,500. and i have had occasion to work with his son, dan rooney, who is now the family patriarch and his grandson art rooney. 11:22:41.2 it is a wonderful family. and bill cowher, the coach, i know to some extent. it is a great tribute. in the absence of any other senator on the floor, i've taken these few moments to comment 11:22:56.2 about this great victory and congratulations. i'm just sorry i couldn't be in pittsburgh today to attend the parade. but we have a parade here on the senate floor which takes my attention. and i don't think i'll be missed in that crowd. mr. president, i ask that my 11:23:12.8 remarks appear in morning business in an appropriate spot. and i would defer to my colleague, senator santorum, to have my remarks follow his in the "congressional record". the presiding officer: without objection. mr. specter: in the absence of 11:23:26.1 any other senator on the oor( ), before suggesting the absence of a quorum, let me say that i again invite any senator or any constituent who has a problem with this bill to come see me. 11:23:41.6 and i know senator leahy feels the same way; the outstanding work he has done, or our staffs. because we want to do what we can to answer all of the problems. as we get ready for the motion to proceed this afternoon, we have certainly outlined the 11:23:59.5 seriousness of the issue. since i spoke earlier, i've been reviewing the testimony, or the argument yesterday of senator durbin, who speaks about the problem. no doubt there is a problem that has to be addressed. and that's the issue on a motion 11:24:14.4 to proceed. senator durbin made a comment that he didn't know where the $140 billion was arrived at. well, it was arrived at his leader, then-senator daschle, in collaboration with senator 11:24:30.0 frist. he said that he hadn't been able 11:24:32.5 to find out where the money is coming from. well, he could if he would make an inquiry. we had to subpoena the records, but there is transparency. we know where the money is coming from. haven't had a chance to read his statement in full, but i'll doubtless have more to say about it. 11:24:47.1 mr. president, in the absence of any senator seeking recognition, i do suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. specter: mr. president? 11:26:06.5 the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. specter: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. specter: mr. president, i've been asked by representatives of leadership to make a unanimous consent request that the time be charged equally 11:26:23.1 to both sides. i'm reluctant to make that unanimous consent request in the absence of any senator representing the democrats, so i will not make it. but i would ask -- what i would do is i would ask that the 11:26:39.9 charge be -- well, i just heard from the leader on the democrats saying it's okay. so i ask unanimous consent that the time under the quorum call be charged equally to both sides. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. quorum call: 11:26:58.7 mr. specter: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: ? 11:29:33.4 quorum call: 11:32:51.3 mr. santorum: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. santorum: thank you, mr. president. it's an honor for me -- i ask that further proceedings of the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. santorum: thank you. it is an honor for me to be here today to speak on behalf of a 11:33:08.5 great organization and a great group of men who accomplished the heights of their profession. the pittsburgh steelers were victorious in super bowl xl on 11:33:26.3 sunday. as i speak right now there's a parade going through downtown pittsburgh of our warers or champions who have brought back the lombardi trophy to pittsburgh for the fifth time, 11:33:42.2 which ties a record along with the 49ers and the dallas cowboys of having one five super bowls. during the 1970's we won four and we got comfortable with the idea that pittsburgh was the city of champions winning both 11:33:57.5 football titles and super bowls, four of them and two world series titles in 1972 and 199. in 1979 we won both the super bowl and the world series. it's been a long time. 11:34:11.9 it's been 26 years since we were able to get, as the saying goes in pittsburgh one for the thumb. four super bowl bowl rings and the time for the thumb has come. we have, in fact, gotten over 11:34:29.7 the hump and we have a will the more to look forward to in my feeling with the years to come with this great squad. i wanted to congratulate, 11:34:40.4 obviously, the team. i want to congratulate some other folks who i think deserve particular recognition. by the way, senator specter and i have put forth a resolution, a congreat latoury resolution 11:34:53.5 which we brought down to the floor here which i'm sure we'll be cleared here momentarily and we'll be able to get that passed later today. i want to congratulations the rooney family. this is a family enterprise and has been since 1933 running the 11:35:10.7 pittsburgh steelers. i don't of any other team in the nfl that has had this kind of stable ownership and this closeness with the community that the rooney ownership has 11:35:27.7 brought over the past 73 years. they are a great pittsburgh family. art rooney who bought the team back in 1933 was one of the founders of the nfl and for years and years and years was 11:35:43.8 one of the great men of football but never -- never won a championship for over 40 years being in the league. and then have a great run in the 1970's and after his passing, dan took it over. 11:35:59.7 his son, who has just been a tremendous pillar of the pittsburgh community. this is a man who is as humble as any man i have ever met, who just -- you know, in contrast with some of the high-flying 11:36:17.5 owners of the nfl this is a man who still flies around in a single engine, i think little sengel -- single engine plane. they have a training camp well out of time and instead of having to drive out from his 11:36:33.2 home he takes this single engine plane and takes it to the little airport near st. vincent's college. he sees the team on occasion. he is still who still remembers his roots and does so much for the community. 11:36:47.5 one of the things he does most for the community is just to keep the beloved steelers a local community team, a team that is good to its players and is good to the community and puts the community first. 11:37:04.7 that's one of the reasons the steelers are so beloved in pittsburgh is because they are so much a fabric of the city because thft he participate so much in the community and community organizations. their players have great relationships throughout the 11:37:21.0 pittsburgh area in making the difference in the community. it's really what professional sports should be more about. we have true role models in people like jerome bettis who have just added so much to the text tour of pittsburgh. 11:37:37.1 and over the years we've had many "greater boston" players in and the out -- many great players in and out, all of whom because of the 4r eu7 of the rooney family, the stability of the coaching ranks from chuck knoll to bill cowher. 11:37:55.4 we've seen that bond with the city has been transferred to the players who feel that special relationship and feel that special obligation to be role models in the community. and overwhelmingly they have 11:38:09.9 lived up to that. so it's a very proud moment not only because they won a football game n. fact, they won four improbable football games 11:38:25.2 against very worthy opponents. it's the first time a sixth seed went through the playoffs and got to the championship game, one the championship game and won the super bowl. they are a remarkable team 11:38:41.0 inspired by this great family, the rooney family, the great coach of bill cowher, who has been, again, another important piece of the pittsburgh family now for better than a dozen years. and he continues to show that, you know, a hometown boy can 11:38:59.7 come back, someone who wasn't a star in the league but a solid guy from pittsburgh who understands the importance of the steelers to this community and lives by -- lives by that ethic and the code that the rooneys have established very, very well and makes pittsburgh a 11:39:16.7 better place as a result. it's great to see coach cowher get get a super bowl. it's great to see this team back on top and it's great to see pittsburgh, a town that has gone through a lot since the 1970's, 11:39:31.5 the heyday of the steel community, has gone through a lot as a community. 11:39:38.7 it's seen dark times through the 1980's. in particular as a community we have been going through a renaissance in pittsburgh over the last ten,12 years. it's nice see the steelers put a 11:39:54.1 pongsation mark and hopefully draw attention and make us feel a little bit better about ourselves and not only have we made the transformation but we have a winning team and a good, positive attitude about how we go forward. 11:40:06.5 i'm proud to be a pittsburgher, particularly today and a pittsburgh steeler fan and i want to congratulate the entire organization and all the pep in pittsburgh for the tremendous support that you continue to give the steelers and the great attitude that you bring to our fair city. 11:40:22.8 with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: n 11:45:16.9 quorum call