[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        HONORING ATOMIC VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Roth] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday we commemorated the 
distinguished service of an elite group of Americans, very brave 
Americans. They were not the Green Berets or the Navy Seals. They are 
not remembered for their service on the battlefield. Yet they served in 
some of the most extreme of wartime conditions.
  I am talking about our atomic veterans, those soldiers who were 
exposed to radiation during Government experiments after World War II, 
before the full effects of the exposure of radiation were known.
  The Second World War has ended a long 50 years ago. For many of the 
other veterans, they were spared the fatal shrapnel or the bayonet or 
the rifle fire. But for the soldiers who were exposed to atomic weapons 
experiments, the battle continues. Today, they fight against cancer and 
other diseases that resulted from the nuclear exposure.
  As we remember those who died 50 years ago when the atomic bombs were 
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we also must take a moment to 
remember the veterans who were involved in these nuclear testings of 
weapons. It is clear as a bell that we have a special obligation to 
these fearless men.
  The VA has cared for these veterans, but their authority to do so 
expired on June 30. The VA continues to treat our atomic veterans, with 
the understanding that Congress will come through with legislation to 
extend their treatment authority. The House has passed the bill, H.R. 
1565, to extend VA's obligation to treat atomic veterans through 1997. 
On behalf of the atomic veterans, I now urge the other body, the 
Senate, to vote to extend the VA's obligation to treat these brave men 
who need and deserve the best possible care available.
  This past Sunday we recognized atomic veterans on Atomic Veterans 
Day. Veterans of northeast Wisconsin, including people like Jack 
DeMoulin of De Pere, WI, who has worked so hard and selflessly on 
behalf of the atomic veterans, they are the real heroes of the cold 
war.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot forget our atomic veterans. They were the 
ultimate guinea pigs in a new technology whose power of destruction was 
well-known, but whose long-range health consequences was not. We must 
lift the burden from the shoulders of dedicated soldiers like Jack 
DeMoulin and the other atomic veterans.
  The war has ended, but the atomic veterans, for them the battle rages 
on. Let us give them the help and support they so desperately need. I 
ask the Senate to join the House in this legislation and ask the 
President to sign it so that we can duly fulfill our obligation to the 
atomic veterans.


                          ____________________