Text 280, 461 rader
Skriven 2005-01-07 23:33:12 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0501078) for Fri, 2005 Jan 7
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President Participates in a Conversation on Asbestos Litigation
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 7, 2005

President Participates in a Conversation on Asbestos Litigation
Macomb Center for the Performing Arts
Macomb Community College
Clinton Township, Michigan



12:15 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thanks for coming today. Please be
seated. We've got a lot of work to do here. (Laughter.) Thank you for such
a warm greeting, and I want to thank some of our fellow citizens for
joining me here on the stage. We're about to have an interesting
conversation on a vital issue that confronts our country, and that has to
do with asbestos litigation. And I want to thank you all for joining us.

I think you're going to find their stories to be very interesting and very
compelling as to why this country needs to act and to solve a problem. One
of the reasons people run for office, or at least the main reason they run
for office should be to see problems and solve problems, so that the
country is better off because of our actions. (Applause.)

I want to thank Al Lorenzo and the good folks here at Macomb Community
College for allowing us to use your beautiful facility. I believe that the
community college system is a vital part of making sure that America
remains a competitive place to do business. After all, one of the ways to
ensure that our business sector is strong and viable is to have a work
force that is skilled -- that is trained for the skills of the 21st
century. And there is no better place than the community college system of
America to provide those skills for jobs which actually exist. So thanks
for having us here. I'm honored to be here.

Today I traveled from Washington on mighty Air Force One with four members
of the United States Congress from Michigan. I hope they came down to hear
this presentation. I suspect they might have like the accommodations.
(Laughter.) But I'm proud of all four. Congressman Mike Rogers is with us
today. Thank you, Mike. (Applause.) Thad McCotter is with us. Congressman,
thank you for coming. (Applause.) Joe Knollenberg is with us -- Congressman
Knollenberg. (Applause.) And finally, Congresswoman Candice Miller has
joined us. Thank you, Candice. (Applause.) It sounds like they've heard of
you. That's good. And you brought along husband, Don. I appreciate Don. Don
and I visited about -- (applause) -- visited about flying F-102s together.
I appreciate you all coming.

I want to thank all the state and local officials who are here. I want to
thank our fellow citizens who've joined us. Today, when I landed at the air
base, I met Colonel Don Kotchman who is with us today. Don, thank you for
coming. (Applause.) You know, I appreciate Don wearing our nation's
uniform, but more importantly, I appreciate the fact that he is a Boy Scout
leader. He is a -- (applause.) And the reason I like to herald a person
like Don is because the true strength of the country is the hearts and
souls of the American citizens. That's our strength. I mean, our military
is mighty, and we'll keep it that way; our economy is getting better, and
we intend to keep it that way. But the real strength of this country is the
fact that thousands and thousands of our citizens take time out of their
lives to try to make somebody else's life better.

And I want to appreciate you for being a volunteer, a soldier in the army
of compassion, Colonel. And I want to -- again, I want -- for all of you
who are out there who are looking for some way to serve your community and
our country, love your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself, and
you'll be doing our country a great service. (Applause.)

Speaking about a nation -- a loving nation providing care, I met with my
little brother last night, the Governor of Florida, Jeb, who just had come
back from the part of the world that was affected by the tsunamis. I'll be
talking to Colin Powell on Monday. Jeb tells me of the extraordinary
efforts that are being made on behalf of the suffering people by our aid
workers, and most particularly, by our United States military. (Applause.)
You know, we're good fighters, but we're also incredibly compassionate
people. And our military is flying chopper lift after chopper lift after
chopper lift to get needed supplies to help alleviate the incredible
suffering that has gone on.

I am proud of the efforts we have made. I will be proud of the efforts we
will make, because this compassionate country will help those around the
world who hurt, as a result of these natural disasters.

We have a lot to do besides relieving suffering around the world. We've got
to spread freedom. I mean, one way to relieve suffering is to encourage
people to be free. And on my mind right now is the fact that the people of
Iraq will be voting on January the 30th. I was asked today -- (applause.) I
want to thank our military and the military families for making this vote
possible. I was asked about all different aspects of the upcoming vote;
they were talking about turnout. I said I know something about turnout.
(Laughter.) In democracy, we think about turnouts. (Applause.) And so I'm
excited for the people of Iraq. I'm excited for the fact that they have a
chance to go to the polls. It's an amazing accomplishment.

And again, I want to thank our troops and those on the ground there who are
helping this historic moment to arrive. You've probably have read where we
have sent some military folks over to assess the situation there. What we
have done is we've sent military people over to assess how we can help the
newly-elected government after January 30th do their job of helping to
train their people so they can protect themselves against the few who want
to stop the march of democracy in that part of the world.

And so this year we will do everything we can to help the Iraqis assume the
responsibilities necessary to defeat those who want to stop the good people
of that country from being able to exercise their free will. We'll do
everything we can to protect our homeland.

At home, we've got some good economic news today. There's a net job
increase -- or new job increase of 157,000 jobs for December. I said
159,000 in the Oval Office; I stand corrected, it was 157,000 new jobs for
December, which is good news. More and more people are finding work. And
the fundamental question confronting the administration and the Congress
is, what do we do to continue to expand the economic growth here in the
country. And I've got some ideas on what to do, and I look forward to
working with the Congress to see that those ideas come to fruition.

One is we've got to be wise about how we spend your money. It's essential
in the budgets that I propose and the budget that Congress passes that it
is very clear that we understand that in order to make sure there's
confidence in our economy that we cut the deficit in half over five years.
And I look forward to working with the spenders in Congress to do just
that.

I know -- I think -- I'm confident we need to keep taxes low. One of the
reasons why our small business sector is so vibrant and strong today is
because taxes on small businesses have been lowered. We intend to keep them
low in this administration. I know we've got to do a better job of getting
Congress to pass a energy plan. We must become less dependent on foreign
sources of energy if we expect this economy to continue to grow.

And another thing we need to do is to make sure that we tackle big
problems, like the Social Security problem. We have a problem with Social
Security and it is this: The number of payers paying into the system are
dwindling on an annual basis, so that by the time baby boomers like me get
ready to receive the promise of the government, there's not going to be
enough money in the system. And so I'm saying to Congress, let's fix it
now. We have a duty, it seems like to me, to confront problems.

I look forward to working with the Congress, members of both parties, to
show our country we can confront big problems. I don't have a specific
plan. I'm listening to all ideas. Everything should be on the table, as far
as I'm concerned, except for the following: One, people who are retired or
near retirement should see nothing change in the system. And part of the
problem in dealing with Social Security is that it's been a way for some to
scare seniors -- say, look, if they modernize the system, the seniors won't
get their checks. Forget it, you're going to get your check. Nothing will
change. I'm talking about how we deal with the problem for younger workers,
most of whom think they'll never see anything to begin with.

And I believe we can do so without running up payroll taxes, and I believe
one interesting change, one innovative response to this issue is to allow
younger workers to take some of their own money and set it aside in a
personal savings account that will earn a better rate of return than the
money inside the Social Security trust, an account they can call their own.
(Applause.)

A way to make sure America is the best place to do business in the world, a
way to make sure jobs continue to exist here is to tackle the tough issues
of legal reform. And I -- (applause.) We have too many junk lawsuits in our
system, pure and simple. And frivolous and junk lawsuits cost our economy
about $240 billion a year. That's a problem. We are one of the most -- I
think maybe the most litigious society in the industrialized world, which
is a competitive disadvantage that we have in a global economy. And
therefore, in order to make sure jobs stay here and jobs are increased
here, we must be more competitive. And in order to be so, it seems like to
me it makes sense to reform our legal systems.

The -- I'm calling on Congress to address three issues as to when it -- as
to legal reform. One is to make sure that there is available and affordable
health care by reforming medical liability law. There's too many lawsuits
around this country that are driving too many good doctors out of practice,
that are driving up the cost of medicine. The cost of practicing defensive
medicine in order to stay out of the courthouse or to defend -- to provide
the defense necessary in case of a frivolous lawsuit is costing you $28
billion a year at the federal level. And it's a problem. And I look forward
to working with Congress to solve this medical liability issue. (Applause.)

We need to reform the class-action lawsuit problem. We've got -- these
lawsuits are being filed; they have an impact on our economy. They -- many
times, the lawyers get the money and the people don't. They are -- these
suits that have got interstate claimants really ought to be in the federal
court. The system right now allows people to shop for a court of law that
is convenient to their case, or place where they can find a sympathetic
jury. And I think in order to make sure the system works better, Congress
needs to reform the class-action lawsuit provisions of law and enable
claimants to be able to argue their case in a federal case -- federal court
of law, as opposed to a sympathetic local court of law.

And finally, we're here to talk about asbestos lawsuits. We got a problem.
The Supreme Court recognized it as a problem. They said it is a huge mass
of -- huge mass of asbestos cases defies customary judicial administration
and calls for national legislation. That's a better -- it's better that
they define it than me. After all, these are all lawyers and judges; I'm
not. But when they say -- the Supreme Court says we have a national
problem, I think Congress needs to listen. And why is it a national
problem?

Well, first of all, we spend about $80 billion on asbestos litigation, and
that could end up being $200 billion over time. Secondly, these asbestos
suits have bankrupted a lot of companies, and that affects the workers here
in Michigan and around the country. Thirdly, those with no major medal
{sic} impairment now make up the vast majority of claims, while those who
are truly sick are denied their day in court. We'll hear a little bit about
that -- we'll hear more about that a little bit later.

It's a -- most of the asbestos producers are now bankrupt so that lawyers
target companies once considered too small to sue, or once considered to be
not really directly involved with the manufacturing of asbestos. Because
there's nobody else to sue, they try to drag in people that aren't directly
involved with the manufacturing of asbestos. We'll hear about what that
means here, as well.

This is a national problem, as the Supreme Court said, that requires a
national solution. And we're here today to talk about the national problem.
I look forward to working with Congress to create a national solution.
There are some principles which I think ought to govern Congress' actions.
First, funds should be concentrated on those who are sick, not lawyers or
claimants who are not ill. In other words, people have been affected by
asbestos, there's no doubt about it. You'll hear a story here today about a
loved one whose family suffered as a result of that. But most of the money
isn't going to those people who have been truly sick. It's going to people
who think they might be sick. And that hurts the system.

Secondly, we need to speed up the process for delivering justice to
deserving victims. So as Congress considers what ought to be done, they
need to keep in mind those who have been truly harmed by asbestos.

Third, we need to provide certainty in the system, which will help save
jobs and protect businesses that had nothing to do with creating the
asbestos problem. And that's important. And so, as Congress moves -- and
I'm confident we can get something done. We'll, of course, need your help.
I intend to help by keeping this issue on the front burner. And we've got
some citizens up here who want to help today, too. And we're going to start
by hearing from Lester Brickman. Lester, tell them what you do.

MR. BRICKMAN: I'm a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
at Yeshiva University, and I write extensively on the issue of asbestos
litigation.

THE PRESIDENT: So what he just said is he's going to give you an expert --
I gave you a layman's opinion about all this. (Laughter.) He's going to
give you an expert opinion about all this.

Tell us what the problem is. Tell us -- just give us a little history and
educate people.

* * * * *

MR. BRICKMAN: Mr. President, asbestos litigation -- actually, asbestos
exposure has been a national tragedy, and more than 100,000 workers have
died as a consequence of asbestos exposure. But lawyers have taken this
tragedy and turned it into an enormous moneymaking machine, in which, as
you say, baseless claims predominate.

In the year 2003, 105,000 new claimants came into the asbestos litigation
system. Each claimant will sue 40, 50, 60, 70 different companies, so we're
talking about a total of 50 million, 60 million, 70 million new claims
generated just in the year 2003. Of this 105,000, approximately 10,000 are
seriously ill, some dying, some dead, because of asbestos exposure. These
are the malignancies. But more than 90,000 of these claimants have no
illness related to asbestos exposure, as recognized by medical science.
These are truly meritless claims. Nonetheless, they're supported by medical
testimony from a handful of medical experts routinely selected by plaintiff
lawyers who are not acting in good faith, in terms of supplying diagnosis,
but are, in fact, responding to enormous financial incentives, which is to
say, millions of dollars in fees that they generate for reading the X rays
in the right way.

These meritless claims are also supported by the activities of screening
companies hired by the plaintiff lawyers, who administer pulmonary function
tests, which fail to adhere to medical standards, and produce false
evidence of lung impairment. And finally, these meritless claims are
supported by false witness testimony. Witnesses in asbestos litigation,
including claimants, are prepared to testify by their lawyers. It's a
remarkable fact that every time a company goes bankrupt, the witness
testimony about what their exposure was, what products they were exposed
to, immediately shifts to inculpate new defendants, new deep pockets.

I have written about this extensively, and I've called it subornation of
perjury. You would think that subornation of perjury would be found to be
unethical. Nonetheless, rules of legal ethics simply don't apply to
asbestos litigation. The courts simply do not apply any rules of legal
ethics to asbestos litigation. The consequence is that we've had, out of
approximately 850,000 claimants since asbestos litigation began, perhaps
600,000 of these are largely baseless claims. Nonetheless, they have
generated tens of billions of dollars in payments, and billions of dollars
in fee income for lawyers, which is why they're brought. And this is a
national tragedy.

THE PRESIDENT: I think my state, of Texas, was pretty famous for being a
place where people would file these suits. As a matter of fact, if I'm not
mistaken, we might have 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 lawsuits dumped on a local
court at a time from around the country.

MR. BRICKMAN: That is correct. Lawsuits from around the country used to
filed in Texas, even though the plaintiffs never had set foot in Texas,
even though the alleged injury had nothing to do with Texas, took place
miles away, or hundreds of thousands of miles away. But the Texas courts,
in those days, before tort reform --

THE PRESIDENT: I was hoping you would bring that up. (Laughter.) Kind of
leading the witness here. (Laughter and applause.) No, no. But it's
happening in another state.

MR. BRICKMAN: The law reform that you championed in Texas actually has
spread to other states.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

MR. BRICKMAN: And that's a good thing.

THE PRESIDENT: The reason I was going to bring it up, is that when you have
that many suits filed, it makes it hard for somebody who has got a
legitimate claim to have their day in court. That's what we want; we want a
court system that's fair. We want the scales of justice to be balanced, and
the scales of justice are not balanced.

MR. BRICKMAN: One of the effects of this massive specious claiming, is that
people -- the true victims of asbestos exposure, the malignancies, have had
their compensation delayed, and in many cases, they have had inadequate
compensation because so much money has gone to pay these baseless claims
generated by lawyer self-interest. Seventy companies have gone into
bankruptcy; 8,500 different companies have already been sued. Hundreds of
companies more will go into bankruptcy unless Congress acts to take
asbestos litigation out of the courts, and create some kind of
administrative process, funded by industry, to pay these claims.

THE PRESIDENT: And people need to understand, when they go into bankruptcy,
that's a legal term, but people are losing jobs, which is a real human
tragedy. That's what these lawsuits are causing.

We've got some small business owners with us today. I think you'll find
their stories sad and compelling. Bruce McFee, that would be you.

MR. McFEE: Well, thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming.

MR. McFEE: It's an honor to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: First, tell us about your company.

MR. McFEE: First of all, we have a plant in Michigan, and it manufactures
air compressors. And we have a second plant in New Hampshire, named
Sullivan-Palatek, Inc., also a manufacturer of air compressors.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. And you're the President of the company?

MR. McFEE: I'm the President, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. President. (Laughter.) And so, why are you here?

MR. McFEE: Well, that's a good question. (Laughter.) I believe the reason I
am here is because we have been named in asbestos lawsuits, due to a
mistaken identity. We're being sued for things that we never made, we're
being sued for things we never did.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, give the people a little history of your company.
Because this is a typical story, as a result of these frivolous lawsuits.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Right. So what is the rational for suing you?

MR. McFEE: Well, what we found out, the first set of lawsuits was sort of
interesting, because one of them, a fellow -- the dates that he had been
exposed to asbestos was 1947-1953. Most of the other people had a similar
thing. Well, from 1953 to the year we were founded, 1988, there's a 35 year
gap. We couldn't possibly have made anything that -- because we weren't in
business.

Second thing, we were an air compressor company, and we were named for a
Sullivan tugger and some of that information came out. After doing some
research into the industry, all we were able to locate was that there had
been a company in New Hampshire that was named Sullivan Machine Company,
and it closed in 1946. But we think they may have made the tuggers. And I
have no idea whether they had asbestos or not. All I can do is know what
I'm told.

THE PRESIDENT: How many employees have you got?

MR. McFEE: We've got a little over a hundred.

THE PRESIDENT: This is classic small business in America -- 100 employees,
would like to be expanding, I presume, would like to be increasing the work
force. And yet, money is going out the door to pay for 53 junk lawsuits.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: This is a case of why frivolous lawsuits hurt our economy.
This is money that they are spending that could be better spent on employee
health benefits, expanding the business.

MR. McFEE: I'd like to mention one other thing. There's some large
companies in this industry that over the last 10 or 15 years have moved
their operations to China or to Taiwan or to other lesser developed
countries to do their manufacturing. We're one employer that has been fully
committed to keeping the jobs in the U.S.A. and this problem we've got now
is just totally distracting, let alone if it forces us out of business.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Well, thanks for sharing with us.

MR. McFEE: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. President. (Laughter and applause.)

Frank Sullivan -- welcome, Frank. Thanks for coming. Where do you live?
What's the name of your company? Are you the President?

MR. SULLIVAN: Yes, sir, I am the President. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. President. (Laughter.)

MR. SULLIVAN: I first want to thank you for your leadership on this issue.
It is slowly destroying out country's manufacturing base.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: Congress needs to act. I mean, I can't make it any more
plainly than to listen to these two stories here. (Applause.) I appreciate
you sharing that with us. I guess what happened is the big manufacturers no
longer exist, and so these lawyers keep searching and searching and
searching until they find medium-sized businesses and small businesses.
It's not right. It just isn't. We want a legal system that works in
America. I want people to say, the system is fair. And, folks, the system
isn't fair right now. It's not fair to those who are getting sued, and it's
not fair for those who justly deserve compensation.

And I want you to hear the story from Mary Lou Keener. Mary Lou has served
our government. She is a public servant, but she's here to talk about her
dad.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: There you go. Good job. Well, there you have it. The system
isn't fair. It's not fair to those who have been harmed; it's not fair to
those who are trying to employ people; it's just not fair.

And so I've come to the great state of Michigan to help -- I asked these
citizens to help highlight a problem. And we have a duty to solve problems,
and this is a problem. And I hope you let your senators know and your
congresspeople know that we've got a problem, and that you as citizens
expect people of good will to come together, to forget vested interests, to
focus on a solution for the good of the people of this country.

I want to thank you all for coming to give us a chance to discuss this
vital issue. I told Mary Lou -- I told you, too -- that I intend to make
this an issue. Starting today, we've made it an issue for the year 2005,
and I look forward to working with the Congress to get something done.

God bless you all, and thanks for coming. (Applause.)

END 12:57 P.M. EST
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