Sen. Specter's Critics Turn Fire on Tort Reform
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Fri Nov 12, 2004 04:48 PM ET
By Susan CornwellWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Critics seeking to keep moderate Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter from chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee were broadening their offensive on Friday by attacking his record on curbing lawsuits.
Specter, who supports keeping abortion legal, is already engulfed in a political firestorm fanned by opponents of abortion rights, who do not want him to head the committee that oversees judicial nominations.
Detractors say Specter is also a friend of trial lawyers who earn big fees by bringing suits against companies, and generally donate more money to Democratic than Republican politicians.
Specter has defenders, though, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pro-business lobby, which has pushed hard for legal reforms.
Stanton Anderson, an official there, said he would be "comfortable" with Specter chairing the Judiciary Committee.
Lawyers have been the top industry contributor to Specter's campaigns, giving him $1.8 million since 1999, or about a tenth of all the campaign money he has raised, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.
The National Taxpayer's Union (NTU) this week cited these donations to Specter as a reason to oppose his chairmanship.
"Why would Republicans, after defeating Kerry, Edwards, and Daschle, in part by criticizing their trial-lawyer financing, simply hand the Judiciary Committee gavel to someone who shares this triumvirate's disdain for tort reform?" asked NTU economic policy analyst Tad DeHaven in a letter to senators.
Sen. John Edwards, who ran for vice president on the unsuccessful Democratic presidential ticket with Sen. John Kerry, is a highly successful trial lawyer. Sen. Tom Daschle is an avowed opponent of class action lawsuit curbs who lost his South Dakota seat to Republican John Thune last week.
The judiciary panel is expected to consider a number of proposals to curb class action lawsuits, limit medical malpractice claims, and deprive lawyers of fees from asbestos suits by setting up a national fund to pay asbestos victims.
All of these proposed reforms are priorities for President Bush and leaders of the expanded Republican majorities elected to both houses of Congress on Nov. 2. They failed to get them through the outgoing Congress but have high hopes for the new, more Republican one.
Specter's aides note that the senator supported unsuccessful Republican efforts in the outgoing Congress to bring legal reform bills to the Senate floor.
But aides to some conservative senators doubt his commitment, saying that while Specter was involved in talks to advance an asbestos fund, he supported an amendment letting claims go back to court if the fund runs dry.
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