The US Senate is voting today on whether to consider a Bill to halt asbestos lawsuits and pay victims from a $140bn privately financed fund.
More than 70 US companies have faced bankruptcy following hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims.
The vote is necessary as Democrats had objected to the tabling of the Bill by Republican Senator Bill Frist.
Democrat Senator Harry Reid said that the Bill does not sufficiently address the concerns of asbestos victims and allows companies to limit their liabilities. He called it "a terrible piece of legislation."
Under the Bill, the lawsuits would be ended and asbestos injury claims paid out of the fund instead. It would be financed by asbestos defendant companies and their insurers.
