WASHINGTON -- A proposal to settle all future asbestos cases out of court through a business-financed trust fund came under assault Wednesday from a conservative lobby that blasted the plan as a "government-sponsored slush fund."

Even as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to consider a bill today that would create a trust fund to end all new asbestos lawsuits, the measure already faces growing opposition.

A Utah congressman introduced a competing bill Wednesday that would keep all asbestos cases in the court system, but establish uniform medical criteria that sponsors said would weed out cases of fraud and award money to victims more quickly.

"There is an incredible amount of fraud," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. "If we just get rid of the exaggerated claims of defendants, we can handle the problem."

Cannon's effort won support from a conservative lobby that took to the radio to attack the trust fund plan pushed by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

FreedomWorks, a conservative lobby advocating lower taxes and headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, has launched a campaign on conservative talk-radio stations in seven states that likens the proposed $140 billion trust fund to a tax increase.

At a news conference Wednesday, Armey distributed baseballs that said "Strike out a $140 billion new tax!"

Supporters of the trust fund say it is the only reasonable way to end a tidal wave of asbestos lawsuits that has thrown more than 70 companies into bankruptcy. The fund, financed by manufacturers and insurers, would allow asbestos victims to receive compensation without going to court.

But Armey said a trust fund amounts to a huge tax on businesses that would offer $7 billion more to trial lawyers. "It's basically a government-sponsored slush fund," he said.

The proposal could have major repercussions for thousands of former shipyard workers in Hampton Roads who now suffer from exposure to asbestos - a fibrous mineral once commonly used for ship insulation and fireproofing. Asbestos lawsuits are something of a cottage industry in the region, but are often settled out of court.

In the Senate, the trust fund proposal has bipartisan support, but many members of Specter's Judiciary Committee expressed reservations about the bill at a hearing this week. Cannon's alternative bill in the House suggests a trust fund proposal would still be a tough sell, even if it survives a Senate vote.

A Virginia company that helps build ships endorsed Cannon's effort, saying a trust fund would impose burdensome costs on its business.

David Lascell, co-owner of Hopeman Brothers- a Waynesboro company that has assisted in furnishing aircraft carriers- said the proposed trust fund would cost his company about $15 million a year- far exceeding the company's annual revenue.

Lascell said his company has 44,000 pending asbestos lawsuits, but that his insurance is adequate to handle them.

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