Mr. Chair, no, it cannot under the terms of the court settlement. Those moneys were set aside for a very specific and agreed to purpose, for those between 1986 and 1990.
I want to go back and reiterate for people that while it seems as if there is a large amount of money remaining in the fund, no one should think of these funds as a surplus. Payments to claimants out of the fund may continue for as much as 70 years, either to new claimants who have until 2010 to apply or for new or continuing payments to those who have already qualified. Some claimants will be receiving loss of income payments for a very long time from the settlement agreement. Other claimants can make claims for additional compensation as their disease progresses.
Therefore the $900 million is there by court order and agreement of all the parties, and it is there to be disbursed over a number of decades in the future.