Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Asbestos is still an ingredient in about 3,000 products that are currently available in the United States. Asbestos causes serious diseases, including mesothelioma and lung cancer. On Thursday, October 4th, the Senate voted unanimously to pass a bill banning asbestos. If approved by the House the United States will join more than 40 other nations that have banned the cancer causing material.

The legislation bans the importation, manufacture, processing and distribution of products containing asbestos. It orders the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that asbestos containing products are no longer available within two years of the bill's enactment. It also creates ten centers which will try to find better treatment of asbestos-related disease.

Patty Murray, Democratic Senator from Washington, was a leader in getting the ban passed. Her efforts were initially stymied by a Republican effort to pass legislation that would have prevented people injured by asbestos from suing the companies involved. The White House did all it could to stymie discussion of the ban. Corporate opposition to the ban was enormous.