[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4588 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4588

To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include workers who 
   were employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the construction and 
maintenance of deep shafts for underground nuclear testing and various 
                        other military purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2000

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include workers who 
   were employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the construction and 
maintenance of deep shafts for underground nuclear testing and various 
                        other military purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alaska Amchitka Island Workers' 
Relief Amendments of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) radiation emitted during the Federal Government's 
        underground testing program on Amchitka Island, Alaska, and 
        from its construction of radar installations on such Island, 
        exposed Amchitka Island workers to radiation that is presumed 
        to have generated an excess of cancers and other radiation-
        related illnesses;
            (2) the health of Amchitka Island workers, who were exposed 
        to radiation from the tests on such Island and during the 
        construction of radar installations on such Island, was put at 
        risk to serve the national security interests of the United 
        States; and
            (3) the United States should recognize and assume 
        responsibility for the harm done to Amchitka Island workers.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT.

    (a) Amchitka Island Workers Claims.--The Radiation Exposure 
Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended by inserting after 
section 5 the following:

``SEC. 5A. CLAIMS RELATING TO AMCHITKA ISLAND WORKERS.

    ``(a) Eligibility Criteria.--An individual shall receive 
compensation for a claim made under this Act if such individual--
            ``(1)(A) was employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska, for the 
        construction, testing, maintenance, support, or clean-up 
        pertaining to the preparation for, and detonation of, the 
        Longshot, Milrow, and Cannikin Nuclear detonations and on any 
        post detonation construction, clean-up, testing, or 
        maintenance; or
            ``(B) was employed on Amchitka Island, Alaska, during the 
        construction of, or the maintenance, repair, monitoring, 
        testing, support, or operation of, the Defense Early Warning, 
        White Alice, Over the Horizon, ``back scatter'', or any other 
        military radar installation located on Amchitka Island, Alaska; 
        and
            ``(2) submits written medical documentation that the 
        individual, after employment on Amchitka Island, Alaska, 
        developed a radiological disease.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of subsection (a), the term 
`radiological disease' includes--
            ``(1) leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia);
            ``(2) multiple myeloma;
            ``(3) lymphomas (other than Hodgkin's disease);
            ``(4) primary cancer of the thyroid, female breast, 
        esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestines, pancreas, bile 
        ducts, gall bladder, or liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis 
        B is indicated); and
            ``(5) nonmalignant respiratory disease such as fibrosis of 
        the lung, pulmonary fibrosis, corpulmonale related to fibrosis 
        of the lung, silicosis, or pneumoconiosis.''.
    (b) Payment of Claims.--Section 6(c)(2)(A) of the Radiation 
Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note) is amended by striking 
``or'' at the end of clause (i), by striking the period at the end of 
clause (ii) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding after clause (ii) the 
following:
                    ``(iii) exposure to radiation from employment on 
                Amchitka Island, Alaska, as described in section 
                5A(a)(1).''.
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