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By Todd
A. Smith*
Every day,
Americans pray for the safety of the hundreds of thousands of
our servicemen and women overseas and here at home. They face
violence and danger every day, defending America abroad and
stateside, as did the soldiers before them.
You probably
know a veteran – a grandfather, a cousin, a next-door neighbor,
a teacher. According to the 2000 Census, there are currently
over 26.4 million veterans living in the United States. With
the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, that number is rising
every day as thousands of American troops return home. Our nation
owes our veterans a great debt.
Unfortunately,
this year has been particularly hard on our veterans. As members
of the active and reserve forces return home from serving overseas,
the need for medical care, living assistance, and disability
benefits are steadily increasing. This puts a strain on an already-overburdened
Department of Veterans Affairs, which has seen its funding cut
under the current administration. The president and Congress
owe our service members more than just rhetoric and photo ops
– America’s veterans deserve the benefits and compensation
they have earned.
These benefits
are especially crucial for veterans who face a deadly threat:
asbestos. Millions of service members, especially machinists,
shipbuilders, and carpenters, were exposed to deadly asbestos
during their service in the armed forces and in the jobs they
took when they returned home. In fact, the Wall Street Journal
reported in November 2003 that in recent years, a shocking 26%
of cases of mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related lung cancer,
came from individuals exposed in military and shipyard construction,
and these individuals made up 16% of other lung-cancer cases
and 13% of disabling lung-disease cases.
Many of
the most seriously ill veterans served in the Navy. Naval ships
and shipyards used asbestos commonly, and according to the Mesothelioma
Applied Research Foundation (www.marf.org),
a whopping 30% of America's mesothelioma victims were exposed
to asbestos while serving their country, either in uniform or
while building and maintaining our fleet. Even spouses and children
were exposed when the workers brought the deadly fibers home
on their skin, clothes and hair.
Veterans,
like all Americans, have always had the right to go to court
to hold accountable the companies that knowingly poisoned them.
They have been able to receive court-approved compensation to
cope with the devastating health and financial consequences
of asbestos-related diseases… until now.
The proposed
asbestos legislation in Congress could make life even more difficult
for these veterans. The proposal would remove the claims of
hundreds of thousands of asbestos victims and their families
from the court system and force them through an administrative
process. Qualifying victims and their families would be compensated
by a Resolution Trust Fund financed by manufacturing companies
that exposed workers to asbestos and those companies’ insurers,
companies that currently make up the group commonly referred
to as the asbestos defendants.
While a
trust fund that is adequately funded and fair to all present
and future victims of asbestos poisoning might be acceptable,
one that shortchanges people poisoned by asbestos through no
fault of their own should be rejected.
Recent versions
of the bill would be unfair to veterans and all other asbestos
victims, throwing all pending cases and settlements into the
fund, and delaying and minimizing compensation. And the asbestos
and insurance companies have been unwilling to provide adequate
resources to ensure the solvency of the fund.
The recent
criminal indictment of executives at asbestos maker W.R. Grace
& Co. reminded everyone of the one indisputable fact in
the asbestos debate: Corporations knew for years that asbestos
was poisoning their workers and their workers' families but
did nothing and let tens of thousands of innocent victims die
needless deaths. Should our service men and women suffer the
same fate?
Our veterans
have sacrificed so much for America, and Congress should recognize
this by standing up for the interests of veterans when it matters
– not just when it is politically expedient. The needs
of veterans should be the first priority, and asbestos and insurance
industry lobbyists shouldn’t dishonor veterans by removing
their right to much-needed compensation. If you or a veteran
you know want to speak out against this bill and the special
interest campaign, visit the Asbestos Resource Center at http://www.justice.org/asbestos.
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