In April 2005, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced S. 852, the "Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005," to Congress, trying to sell it as the solution to the national asbestos litigation crisis.
The bill proposed a $140 billion trust fund for victims of asbestos poisoning, eliminating the need for individual legal battles. But the Coalition for Asbestos Reform (CAR), a nonprofit group of small and medium-size businesses and their insurance companies, saw it as ...