Congress Watch: For Senator Specter, a busy fall
As Washington braces for the battle over the likely confirmation of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, it is not surprising that the punch line to the running joke in the offices of Judiciary Committee Chair Arlen Specter has been, "What August recess?" What is surprising, though, is that all the extra work is not just about the Roberts confirmation, because Specter, unlike much of Washington, is looking beyond that.
"We've got a ferocious agenda when we finish Roberts," promises Specter, who has already scheduled hearings on the contentious issue of foreign prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and domestic prisoners returning to U.S. communities. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."
He wants to see a stem cell bill come to the floor of the Senate, and in the midst of all this, the Congressional Budget Office last week issued its report on the costs of the huge asbestos liability legislation that Specter has cobbled together and passed out of his committee in mid-June with the hope that it will pass the full Senate this year.
The CBO report was not that helpful. The bill would establish a federal fund with outlays of about of $140 billion over 30 years that would pay claims to victims of asbestos as well as shield insurers and manufacturing firms from further legal action. The legislation anticipates that insurance companies and manufacturers facing current liability claims would generate most of the revenue for the fund, but the CBO report estimated that it would increase the national debt by $6.5 billion over the next 10 years.
Needless to say, there are detractors on both sides: those who think it'll cost too much, and those who think there is not enough money in the pot. The CBO projected that establishing and administering the fund would expand the federal payroll by 700 workers over the next 10 years. If and when Specter can get this bill to the floor, he can count on the debate being spirited.