His office declined to give out a list of potential speakers at the hearing, although insurance industry officials believe the headliner will be Judge Edward Becker, former chief judge of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia. Judge Becker is a longtime friend of Sen. Specter and has sought to facilitate a deal on asbestos legislation for more than a year at Sen. Specter's behest.

The principles behind Sen. Specter's bill, as contained in discussion drafts circulated in late November and early December, include creation of a trust fund in the range of $140 billion and an alternative claims handling system based on specific medical criteria. In earlier versions of the legislation, the insurance would have been expected to pay $46 billion over 27.5 years.

But the insurance industry is balking, because under the bill its payments would be accelerated, a number of claims have been settled since the $46 billion was first proposed, and because under the plan eyed by Sen. Specter, the whole system would fold if claims are not paid within 300 days, reverting all claims to the court system.

For example, in a letter dated Dec. 21 but obtained Wednesday by National Underwriter, the major property-casualty insurance groups told Judge Becker, with copies to others in the Senate leadership, point blank that, "Based on our recent meetings with you and the other stakeholders, it appears that the discussion draft, as currently contemplated, is unlikely to meet" the industry's basic goals. As such, the letter adds, "should legislative language based on this draft be introduced in the Senate, we could not support it. Such an outcome would be unfortunate, given our mutual desire to move asbestos legislation to the president's desk next year."

And, in the latest development, several large industrial companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., DuPont Co., Federal-Mogul Corp. and its official committee of unsecured creditors, Foster Wheeler Ltd., and three other firms sent a letter to Sen. Specter and other members of the committee's leadership as well as Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, saying they had "significant concerns with the recent discussion draft."

Specifically, the letter said, "We believe that the current draft would not equitably resolve the asbestos litigation crisis."

Sen. Specter's office would not comment other than to say that as of now, the hearing is on.