[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 337 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 337

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
       radiation experiments conducted by the Federal Government.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 1994

    Mr. Frost (for himself and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was referred jointly to the 
   Committees on Government Operations, Energy and Commerce, and the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to 
       radiation experiments conducted by the Federal Government.

Whereas the Federal Government intentionally conducted secret radiation 
        experiments on individuals beginning in the 1940's;
Whereas the experiments were conducted without the informed consent or knowledge 
        of the individuals on whom the experiments were performed;
Whereas the radiation experiments included, but were not limited to, experiments 
        involving injections of plutonium, prescription of radioactive 
        medication to pregnant women, ingestion of irradiated food, and exposure 
        to atmospheric radiation;
Whereas the Federal Government performed the experiments not in order to achieve 
        medical or health benefits for the individuals who were subjects in the 
        experiments, but for research purposes to allow Federal Government 
        scientists and health specialists to study the effects of radiation on 
        the human body;
Whereas, at the time of the experiments and in the years following the 
        experiments, previous Federal administrations failed to inform the 
        individuals used as subjects, or their families, about the nature and 
        effects of the experiments;
Whereas the failure to inform such individuals and their families persisted even 
        after a 1986 report, issued by the Subcommittee on Energy Conservation 
        and Power of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives, disclosed the existence of some of the experiments and 
        recommended that individuals used as subjects in the experiments be 
        identified, located, and provided with followup medical care; and
Whereas such experiments conducted on individuals without their consent or 
        permission were wrong and unacceptable in a free and democratic society, 
        and all reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that such experiments 
        never happen again: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the people of the United States deserve a full 
        accounting of the nature and extent of the radiation 
        experiments conducted by the Federal Government;
            (2) the Secretary of Energy should be commended for quickly 
        responding to the disclosures that secret radiation experiments 
        had been conducted on individuals without their informed 
        consent by promising to locate and release all relevant 
        records;
            (3) the President should be commended for establishing a 
        Human Radiation Interagency Working Group and an independent 
        Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments to examine 
        the scientific and ethical questions raised by the experiments 
        and to make recommendations to the President;
            (4) all departments and agencies of the Federal Government 
        should act expeditiously to locate, retrieve, and inventory all 
        records and documents related to the radiation experiments;
            (5) once located, retrieved, and inventoried, all relevant 
        records and documents should be made available to the 
        individuals who were used as subjects in the experiments, and 
        to their families, to allow them to learn the truth about the 
        experiments;
            (6) the individuals who were subjects in the experiments 
        and are still alive should receive appropriate followup medical 
        care;
            (7) the President should consider whether compensation 
        should be provided to the individuals who were the subjects of 
        the experiments;
            (8) the President should consider whether compensation 
        should be provided to the surviving family members of deceased 
        individuals who were subjects of the experiments; and
            (9) an apology should be made by the Federal Government to 
        the individuals who were subjects in the experiments, and their 
        families, for the hardships they have endured as a result of 
        the secret radiation experiments.

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