Reply #146: Wellstone was a serious threat to Halliburton/Dresser . [View All]

From:
<http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:uB2IDWMw-FUC:wellstone.senate.gov/asbestos.htm>
April 18, 2000
Wellstone Stands With Steelworkers in Opposing Asbestos Legislation
Bills Before Congress Would Rob Victims of Their Basic Rights
(Eveleth, MN) --Senator Paul Wellstone, joining steelworkers in Eveleth today, announced his opposition to a proposed settlement which would prevent workers afflicted with asbestos-related illnesses from collecting the compensation they deserve. Wellstone said legislation before Congress, if passed, would deprive workers of their basic right to receive just compensation for illnesses they unknowingly contracted while working in factories polluted with asbestos.

"This legislation is a slap in the face to steelworkers and other Minnesotans who struggle to put a roof over their families' heads and put food on the table; never mind pay high medical bills for diseases they contracted for doing nothing more than putting in an honest day's work," Wellstone said. "It would rob them of their right to just compensation, it would rob them of their right to see justice served on those responsible for making them sick, and it would rob them of their right to get their lives back on track. I will do everything I can to honor the labor of these workers, and friends like Bruce Vento, by fighting this legislation in the Senate."

Here the SOB's decide that letting people be exposed to asbestos is worth the "price".

White House nixed asbestos warning: link to article of 12/29/02 : "White House thwarted asbestos- insulation warning": http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134604765_asbestos29.html
snip
"WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency was on the verge of warning millions of Americans that their attics and walls might contain asbestos-contaminated insulation. But the White House intervened at the last minute, and the warning never has been issued.
The agency's refusal to share its knowledge of what is believed to be a widespread health risk has been criticized by a former EPA administrator under two Republican presidents, a Democratic U.S. senator and physicians and scientists who have treated victims of the contamination. "

Before Cheney was VP the Seattle Post Intelligencer ran an article (August 4, 2000) " Cheney's Firm Backed Bill to Limit Asbestos Liability" :
"Dick Cheney and the giant energy company he will leave to run for vice president have contributed more than $150,000 to members of Congress who sponsored legislation that would limit the ability of workers to sue companies for asbestos exposure. "

Was the WH stopping the announcement a quid pro quo for past favors?

Article can be viewed at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/080400-02.htm

<http://www.msnbc.com/local/pisea/102011.asp?cp1=1>
Murray promises to renew push for asbestos warnings
By ROBERT MCCLURE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Dec. 30 - After revelations that the Bush administration squelched public health warnings about a widely used form of insulation that contains cancer-causing asbestos, Sen. Patty Murray vowed yesterday to renew her fight for a public education campaign. Murray, D-Wash., said she will demand an explanation this week for why warnings planned last spring by the Environmental Protection Agency were called off at the last minute by high-ranking Bush administration officials.

Internal EPA documents show that about 15 million to 35 million of the nation's approximately 105 million households contain a brand of insulation known as Zonolite. Mined for decades in Libby, Mont., Zonolite contains a particularly lethal form of asbestos known as tremolite. "I just find it astounding that when this kind of information is available that can save people's lives, that this administration has decided to keep that secret and not let people know," Murray said. "Here's a health risk we can do something about."
Murray's co-sponsor, Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., died in October in a plane crash.

W.R. Grace says the insulation is safe, and wrote a letter to the EPA in April insisting that no health warnings are necessary.

In addition to its use in insulation, the brownish-pink vermiculite was contained in garden products, cement mixtures and many other products. One of those products was as fireproofing in ceiling tiles used widely in schools and federal office buildings. Helping manufacture those tiles as a side job while in college likely gave Brian Harvey of Marysville mesothelioma, a disease caused only by exposure to asbestos.

Harvey criticized the Bush administration's decision to pull the public health warning. "I have a real problem with that," Harvey said. "That I consider unforgivable."
"At the top levels of the Bush administration, they are maintaining this cloak of secrecy that I can't imagine the people who I've worked with at the EPA are very happy about," Murray said. "Hopefully, the public will start crying out for Congress and the administration to do something about this.

Note: Then the Right-Wing attack on Patty Murray for being an OBL "symp" when she spoke to a class. Timed well with Murray's attack on Trent Lott and her renewed interest in the WH nixing the asbestos warning.

One coincidence, two coincidence, three coincidence....four.....please don't tell me it's a coincidence anymore.