South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006
S. 853
STATUS INFORMATION
Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Senator Martin
Document Path: l:\s-res\lam\016asbe.mrh.doc
Introduced in the Senate on May 17, 2005
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary
Summary: National Trust Fund
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
5/17/2005 Senate Introduced SJ-8
5/17/2005 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-8
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
5/17/2005
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9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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11 IN SUPPORT OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL
12 TRUST FUND TO ASSURE TIMELY AND EQUITABLE
13 COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF ASBESTOS-RELATED
14 DISEASES.
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16 Whereas, the continuing wave of asbestos claims has hopelessly
17 clogged the U.S. court system with an estimated 730,000 claims in
18 addition to those claims already paid; and
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20 Whereas, long delays in adjudicating these cases have resulted in
21 seriously ill victims of asbestos diseases dying before they could
22 receive fair compensation; and
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24 Whereas, the nature of our tort system has often resulted in healthy
25 individuals receiving substantial payments while desperately ill
26 asbestos victims or their families have received a small fraction of
27 the compensation to which they were entitled; and
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29 Whereas, fifty-seven percent of the eighty-six billion dollars
30 awarded to asbestos claimants has gone to legal fees and
31 transaction costs; and
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33 Whereas, the tort bar has been seeking out new defendants so
34 aggressively that companies that never produced asbestos or even
35 used it in a meaningful way are now the targets of lawsuits; and
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37 Whereas, many of these companies and their insurance carriers
38 have been forced to settle and make unwarranted payments rather
39 than face the cost of defending themselves against the large class
40 action suits that have proliferated over the last ten years; and
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1 Whereas, seventy-five companies have been driven into
2 bankruptcy by asbestos litigation, eliminating 60,000 jobs; and
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4 Whereas, the economic burden of asbestos litigation has weighed
5 down the stock market and has had a devastating effect on the
6 401-K plans of retirees and employees of defendant companies;
7 and
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9 Whereas, 2,000 people a year are dying from an especially virulent
10 form of cancer caused exclusively by asbestos exposure, often
11 without the benefit of fair compensation; and
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13 Whereas, currently American veterans who were exposed to
14 asbestos while serving their country prior to 1970 are sharply
15 limited in their ability to seek compensation, even though they are
16 seriously ill today; and
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18 Whereas, the Supreme Court of the United States has twice
19 advised that the asbestos litigation disaster cannot be handled by
20 the courts and is a problem that must be solved by Congress; and
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22 Whereas, the establishment of a national trust would provide swift,
23 fair compensation and would ensure that claimants are genuine
24 asbestos victims by imposing strict medical criteria; and
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26 Whereas, such a trust fund would allow victims to apply directly to
27 the trust fund for aid without the need of an attorney and would
28 cap fees of attorneys that are utilized by claimants at five percent
29 of their compensation; and
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31 Whereas, the proposed trust fund under consideration in Congress
32 would be funded by corporations and insurance companies and
33 therefore cause essentially no expense to taxpayers; and
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35 Whereas, the trust fund proposal has the full and active support of
36 major veteran, business and consumer groups; and
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38 Whereas, the sense of justice of average Americans is outraged at
39 the way justice and real asbestos victims have been abused by the
40 legal system. Now, therefore,
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42 Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives
43 concurring:
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2 That the South Carolina General Assembly urges all members of
3 the South Carolina Congressional delegation to support the trust
4 fund enabling legislation.
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6 Be it further resolved that the trust fund legislation should remove
7 asbestos claims entirely from the courts and direct all asbestos
8 claims to the trust fund.
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