NEWS ARTICLE: FREEDOMWORKS SALUTES SENATOR ENSIGN FOR HIS PRINCIPLED STAND AGAINST THE ASBESTOS TRUST FUND BOONDOGGLE

Senator Ensign was the leader of a courageous group that took stand on behalf of taxpayers to stop the budget busting Asbestos Trust Fund.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Senator Ensign (R-NV) stood up for taxpayers and the cause of limited government on Tuesday by sponsoring a budget point of order on the Asbestos Trust Fund, S. 852, that was sustained by a 59-40 vote.The point of order was necessary because S. 852 would create a massive new government program to attempt to manage asbestos litigation. The bill’s proponents claim that the program would cost businesses and insurers $140 billion in new taxes, but independent reports suggest the program could eventually cost over half a trillion dollars.FreedomWorks Chairman and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey commented, “It takes guts to stand up for principle when bad legislation comes before Congress that is supported by most members of your party. If passed, the Asbestos Trust Fund would be critically under funded and pass that liability onto future generations. I commend Senator Ensign for putting good public policy before politics. It appears a strong core of budget watchdogs is emerging in the Senate, and Senator Ensign is part of the foundation of this group.”

FreedomWorks believes S.852 opens up an opportunity to pass real tort reform to fix the asbestos litigation crisis where it is occurring– in our court system. Despite leadership opposition, last week Sen. Cornyn received 27 votes for his medical criteria alternative, and Rep. Chris Cannon (R- Utah) has 60 cosponsors for a similar approach in the House. Using medical criteria to hear cases and make awards is fair and makes common sense, and is already working in states like Ohio. Sound medical criteria legislation will allow the courts to deliver compensation to the truly injured.

The vote was the latest skirmish in FreedomWorks’ 13 month campaign against S. 852. The campaign has included thousands of grassroots emails and phone calls, talk radio ads in 7 states, newspaper advertisements. FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey also sent a letter to all Senators asking them vote to support the budget point of order.

FreedomWorks will count votes on Senator Ensign’s budget point of order as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes Senators with voting records that support economic freedom.

FreedomWorks is a national grassroots organization with more than 700,000 members nationwide and 5,000 in Nevada promoting lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.