Sen. Specter Holds Hearing on Asbestos Trust Fund Bill; Pres. Bush Pushes 'Tort Reform'

WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 11, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) presided over a Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on the 'The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act,' during which representatives from the National Association of Manufacturers, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, American Insurance Association, and the American Trial Lawyers Association all testified.

The meeting came after a week in which President George W. Bush traveled to both Illinois and Michigan to discuss his administration's so-called tort reform agenda. During a speech given at the Macomb Community College in Clinton Township, Mich., President Bush called the huge mass of asbestos …