RPM's Sullivan takes part in litigation reform discussion with President Bush.

RPM's president and CEO Frank C. Sullivan recently participated in a conversation, hosted by President George W. Bush, which focused on asbestos litigation reform. The invitation-only event was held at the Macomb Performing Arts Center in Clinton Township, MI.

"It was an honor and a privilege to participate in today's event," said Sullivan. "I sincerely appreciate the President's interest in the 8,000 employees of RPM who, like the hundreds of thousands who work for other small-to-midsize U.S. manufacturers, find themselves unfairly at the center of the ever-increasing number of asbestos-related lawsuits. It is my hope that such open discussions can lead to a solution that provides fair compensation for the truly sick while fixing a broken system that is having a uniquely damaging impact on America's manufacturing base, its workers, retirees and investors."

There were 1,000 people at the event during which President Bush called on Congress to focus funds on those affected by asbestos and speed up the process for delivering justice. "We need to speed up the process for delivering justice to deserving victims," he said. "So as Congress considers what ought to be done, they need to keep in mind those who have been truly harmed by asbestos."

In addition to Sullivan, those involved in the panel discussion were a law professor from Yeshiva University, the president of Saylor-Beall Manufacturing, an East Lansing, MI company which has had 53 asbestos lawsuits filed against it in three states, and a McLean, VA woman who has been pursuing an asbestos claim for more than three years for her World War II veteran father who died from a rare cancer caused by asbestos.