[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2633 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2633

To provide for preservation by the Department of Defense of historical 
                           radiation records.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2005

 Mr. Matheson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for preservation by the Department of Defense of historical 
                           radiation records.

    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 ``Department of Defense Historical 
Radiation Records Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Atmospheric testing of nuclear devices was a dark 
        period in the history of the nation for many Americans, 
        particularly ``downwinders''.
            (2) The National Academy of Sciences urged Congress to 
        ``declare a government-wide moratorium'' on the destruction of 
        documents that are potentially relevant to measuring fallout in 
        the United States from nuclear weapons testing and assessing 
        health risks.
            (3) The National Academies of Science, in reviewing the 
        feasibility of determining doses and health effects to the 
        American population, noted that government data must be 
        secured.
            (4) The Department of Energy has ordered a moratorium on 
        the destruction of records, but the Department of Defense has 
        no such prohibition and relevant records could potentially be 
        lost.
            (5) The preservation of important historical records should 
        be a priority.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS PERTAINING TO 
              RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT.

    (a) Prohibition of Destruction of Certain Documents.--The Secretary 
of Defense may not destroy any document in the custody or control of 
the Department of Defense that is a historical record (or part of a 
historical record) relating to radioactive fallout from the testing of 
any nuclear device.
    (b) Preservation and Publication of Information.--The Secretary of 
Defense shall identify, preserve, and publish information contained in 
documents referred to in subsection (a).
    (c) Sense of Congress.--All government agencies should institute a 
moratorium on the destruction of historical fallout-related records and 
the Department of Defense should declassify those records for the 
benefit of scientific research and public health.
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