[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10415-S10419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Campbell, Mr. 
        Bingaman, and Mr. Domenici):
  S. 1515. A bill to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
pensions.


         radiation exposure compensation act amendments of 1999

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the ``Radiation 
Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 1999,'' known as RECAA 1999. I 
am pleased to be joined by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell; the 
distinguished Senate Minority Leader, Senator Tom Daschle; Senator Jeff 
Bingaman; and Senator Pete Domenici in introducing this legislation.

[[Page S10416]]

  These long awaited amendments will ensure that the United States 
government meets its responsibility to provide fair and compassionate 
compensation to the thousands of individuals adversely affected by the 
mining of uranium and from fallout during the testing of nuclear 
weapons in the early post-war years. These citizens helped our nation 
during the Cold War and we must not forget them.
  In 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210) was 
enacted. RECA, which I was proud to sponsor, affirmed the 
responsibility of the federal government to compensate individuals who 
were harmed by the radioactive fallout from atomic testing, for which 
the government took few precautions to ensure safety. Additionally, 
workers who have suffered long-term health problems because they were 
not adequately informed of the dangers faced during uranium mining were 
eligible for compensation under the act.
  Administered through the Department of Justice, RECA has been 
responsible for compensating approximately 6,000 individuals for their 
injuries, but we can and should help a lot more. While the passage of 
the 1990 law was a momentous event, I have been carefully monitoring 
the implementation of the RECA program.
  I am disturbed over numerous reports from my Utah constituents 
concerning the burdensome process of filing claims with the Department 
of Justice. One complaint which I hear far too often is ``that it is 
easier to compensate a dead miner, than one living with disease.'' We 
cannot let this injustice continue. We have drafted the RECA Amendments 
of 1999 in response to these concerns.
  We should not add a bureaucratic nightmare to the burden of disease 
and ill-health already carried by these citizens. Moreover, excessive 
regulatory hurdles have made it too difficult for some deserving 
individuals to be fairly compensated under the Act. We must streamline 
and speed up the application process. In addition, advances in our 
medical knowledge compel us to modify the 1990 Act to define better 
criteria for compensation and to include diseases that we now know have 
radiogenic causes.
  Let me explain how this bill was developed. RECA originally defined a 
list of 13 compensable diseases based upon the 1988 Radiation Exposed 
Veterans Compensation Act and the findings of the 1980 report of the 
Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations (BEIR-III). 
In 1992, REVCA was amended based upon the findings of an updated BEIR-
IV and -V Reports which defined a host of cancers that are considered 
for disability compensation due to radiation exposure.
  In addition, the report of the President's Advisory Committee on 
Human Radiation Experiments, released in 1995, provides further 
scientific evidence for changes in the 1990 RECA law. The Committee 
reviewed 125 current studies and more than 200 public witnesses in 
evaluating the risks and diseases caused by exposure to radiation 
conducted in the Cold War period. The conclusions of the advisory 
committee report support the reduction in radiation level exposure, the 
elimination of distinction between smokers and nonsmokers for lung 
cancer, and the inclusion of other radiogenic diseases.
  Based on the evidence in both the President's Advisory Committee and 
the BEIR-V Committee Reports, we have extended the number of eligible 
radiogenic pathologies by six to include: lung, brain, colon, ovary, 
bladder, and salivary gland cancers. In addition, specific non-cancer 
diseases, such as silicosis, have been incorporated. Adding these 
diseases, which have been documented by science as linked to radiation 
exposure, will more fairly compensate our fellow citizens who were 
exposed to this danger so long ago.
  With the inclusion of these modifications, miners, millers, and 
uranium ore transporters will be eligible in 11 western states to seek 
equitable compensation for their sacrifice in our nation's effort to 
produce our nuclear defense arsenal. I have worked with Senators 
Daschle, Campbell, and Bingaman in reviewing Atomic Energy Commission 
records to document the uranium/vanadium mines supported by the U.S. 
government during and after the Manhattan Project. Eleven western 
states were found to have mines dating from 1947 through 1970 from 
which the U.S. government purchased radioactive ore.
  Furthermore, uranium mills in these areas testify to the need to 
include millers who were exposed to radioactive decay without the 
benefit of state or government-instituted safety precautions. The 
report ``Raw Materials Activities of the Manhattan Project on the 
Colorado Plateau,'' by William Chenoweth, a noted geologist, documents 
the tragedies of exposure endured by miners, millers, and ore 
transporters as they extracted, prepared and moved the radioactive ore 
for use in the nuclear arsenal. These changes would enable an estimated 
6,000 individuals harmed by exposure to uranium radiation to seek 
compensation.
  Of the thousands affected by radiation exposure, many of the 
downwinders, miners and millers were members of Indian tribes. 
Particularly noteworthy was the large number of U.S. atomic energy 
mines on Native American reservations. Many of these miners were not 
aware of the dangers that radiation exposure can cause, and the 
government did little to inform them of the risks. After RECA 1990 was 
passed into law, many complications have hindered members of Indian 
tribes from seeking their compensation. In working with the members of 
the Navajo Nation and other Native American tribes, we have developed 
legislation that largely addresses their concerns. The bill also 
instructs the Attorney General to take into account and make 
appropriate allowances for the laws, traditions, and customs of Indian 
tribes.

  Finally, my bill also contains a grant program designed to provide 
for the early detection, prevention and education on radiogenic 
diseases. These programs will screen for the early warning signs of 
cancer, provide medical referrals, educate individuals on radiogenic 
cancers as well as prevention, and facilitate documentation of RECA 
claims. These grants will be available to a wide range of health care 
providers including: cancer centers, hospitals, Veterans Affairs 
medical centers, community health centers, and state departments of 
health.
  Some may question the cost of our legislation. Let me set the record 
straight. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will 
cost close to $1 billion over the next 21 years. That averages out to 
just over $47 million a year. This estimate is significantly lower than 
other proposals that have been considered by Congress over the past 
several years. Ours is, I believe, a common sense approach that keeps 
to the intent of the original statute.
  But, Mr. President, in considering the cost, it is important to 
remember what prompted the original statute. What justified this 
compensation program in the first place? The answer is that the federal 
government during the early years of the atomic testing program, 
exposed American citizens--our neighbors--to deadly nuclear fallout. 
Knowing that there would be adverse effects of exposure to fallout, the 
government exploded these bombs so that the fallout would blow 
``downwind'' of the more heavily populated cities. There was no warning 
or instruction about minimizing exposure for the citizens in these 
rural areas. In my view, Mr. President, this bill is only fair and 
just. If we fail to provide even basic compensation for the hardships 
they have endured, we will still be taking them for granted.
  I ask my colleagues to join me and Senators Daschle, Campbell, 
Bingaman, and Domenici in meeting our nation's commitment to the 
thousands of individuals who were victims of radiation exposure while 
supporting our country's national defense. I believe we have an 
obligation to care for those who were injured, especially since, at the 
time, they were not adequately warned about the potential health 
hazards involved with their work. Now is our chance to compensate these 
men and women for their injuries. I urge my colleagues to support these 
Americans by cosponsoring the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 
Amendments of 1999.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today I am delighted to join in the 
introduction of the ``Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 
1999.''

[[Page S10417]]

 For the last year, I have been working to extend the benefits of the 
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to South Dakotans who worked 
in uranium mines and a uranium mill in western South Dakota. This 
legislation would accomplish that goal, and I am very grateful to 
Senator Hatch for his hard work on this issue.
  In the 9 years since the passage of RECA, we have had time to reflect 
upon its strengths and its shortcomings. During that time, it has 
become overwhelmingly clear that we have not fully met our obligation 
to victims of our nuclear program. Most seriously, we have arbitrarily 
and unfairly limited compensation for underground miners to those in 
only five States, despite the fact that underground miners in other 
states such as South Dakota faced exactly the same risk to their 
health. This fact alone requires us to amend RECA so that we can right 
this wrong.
  However, we have also excluded other groups of workers, and their 
surviving families, from compensation for serious health problems and, 
in some cases, deaths, that have resulted from their work to help 
defend our Nation. Many of those who worked in uranium mills have 
developed serious respiratory problems as a result of exposure to 
uranium dusts and silica. Similar concerns have been raised about 
above-ground miners and uranium transportation workers as well.
  This legislation would address those shortcomings and ensure that 
those who have suffered health problems because the government failed 
to warn them about the hazards of working with uranium are compensated. 
It is my hope that Congress will act on it this session so that we can 
provide compensation to these workers as quickly as possible.
  There is one issue I hope we can address when this bill is considered 
in committee. Earlier this summer, I hosted a meeting of former uranium 
workers in Edgemont, SD. The most pressing concern of many of them was 
their inability to purchase affordable, quality health insurance due to 
the serious, ongoing health problems many of them have as a result of 
their work. Even if compensated by the Federal Government, they fear 
they are only one hospital stay away from bankruptcy. I hope that I can 
work with my colleagues over the next several months to determine how 
we can ensure that these workers, who sacrificed their health for their 
country, have access to affordable health insurance.
  Finally, I have noted in the past the difficulty of tracking down 
documentation about South Dakota's uranium mining and milling 
activities. For that reason, I ask unanimous consent that a letter from 
the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources and a 
letter from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on this 
issue be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letters were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         Department of Environment


                                        and Natural Resources,

                                     Pierre, SD, January 26, 1999.
     Hon. Tom Daschle,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Daschle: Peter Hanson of your office requested 
     that this letter be sent to you regarding past uranium mining 
     activities in South Dakota. Both underground and surface 
     uranium mining activities took place in South Dakota a few 
     decades ago. While we can confirm that these activities took 
     place, it is important to point out that South Dakota did not 
     have a mining regulatory program during the years uranium 
     mining took place. Therefore, there are no detailed records 
     or statistical information in our files. Certain staff 
     members have mainly collected the documents in our office as 
     a result of interest in the subject. The information below is 
     excerpted from some of these documents.
       Uranium deposits of economic significance were discovered 
     in 1951 in Fall River County, South Dakota, in what became 
     know as the Edgemont mining district. Prospecting quickly 
     intensified and by 1953 production of uranium ore increased 
     to the point that the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 
     established a buying station in Edgemont. In 1956, a mill for 
     processing uranium ore was completed in Edgemont. Commercial 
     uranium deposits were also discovered in lignite beds of 
     Harding County in 1954.
       According to our records, including Mullen and Agnew (1959) 
     and Bieniewski and Agnew (1964), production of uranium ore 
     occurred in Fall River and Harding Counties, as well as some 
     production in Custer, Lawrence, and Pennington Counties (and 
     an ``unknown'' county).
       The number of producing properties varied through the 
     years. Bieniewski and McGregor (1965) indicate that in 1963 
     production of uranium ore was attributed to 37 operations, 19 
     of which were in Fall River County, 14 in Harding County, 3 
     in Custer County, and 1 in Pennington County. Production of 
     ore reached a peak in 1964 (with 110,147 short tons of 
     uranium ore produced) and then declined greatly in the late 
     1960's (USGS, 1975 and Stotelmeyer, et al., 1966). According 
     to Stotelmeyer, et al. (1967), it appears that there were 49 
     uranium mining operations in 1964, 29 of which were in Fall 
     River County, 15 in Harding County, and 5 in Custer County.
       The mill at Edgemont stopped producing uranium concentrates 
     in 1972. By the end of 1973, nearly one million tons of 
     uranium ore containing about 3,200,000 pounds of 
     U3O8 were produced from deposits in 
     South Dakota (USGS, 1975).
       Our records are very sketchy regarding the number of 
     uranium mine employees. Bieniewski and Agnew (1964) indicate 
     that the average number of men employed in uranium mines and 
     mills in 1961 was 104, excluding officeworkers. A total of 
     204,216 man-hours were worked in 1961. There were 23 uranium 
     mine and mill operations that year. There were 10 nonfatal 
     injuries in 1961, which equated to a frequency rate of 49 
     injuries per million man-hours (Bieniewski and Agnew, 1964).
       In 1962, preliminary figures indicated that the average 
     number of men employed was 103. A total of 202,062 man-hours 
     were worked in 1962. There were 20 operations that year. 
     There were 16 nonfatal injuries in 1962, which equated to a 
     frequency rate of 79.1 injuries per million man-hours 
     (Bieniewski and Agnew, 1964).
       We were unable to locate uranium employment statistics for 
     other years. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more 
     uranium mine employees in other years than those referenced 
     in the 1961-1962 statistics above, such as during the peak 
     production year of 1964.
       We have provided Peter Hanson with some information and 
     references on the subject. Among other things, that 
     information includes reference citations to several 
     documents, publications, and maps that refer to uranium 
     mining and uranium deposits in South Dakota, some of which 
     are referenced here. We also sent the web address of our 
     department's web page on Inactive and Abandoned Mines in the 
     Black Hills http://www.state.sd.us/denr/DES/mining/
acidmine.htm
       The names of some of the uranium mines are shown on the 
     maps referred to above. If you would like copies of these 
     maps, or of any of the other documents cited in the 
     information sent to Mr. Hanson, please let us know.
       You may wish to contact Dr. Arden Davis and Dr. Kate Webb 
     at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for 
     further information on uranium mining and abandoned uranium 
     mines in South Dakota.
       If you have any questions or need further assistance, 
     please contact Tom Durkin with the Minerals and Mining 
     Program at 605-773-4201.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Nettie H. Myers,
     Secretary.
                                  ____

                                            South Dakota School of


                                         Mines and Technology,

                                  Rapid City, SD, January 8, 1999.
     Senator Tom Daschle, 
     Senate Hart Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Daschle: This letter is to provide a brief 
     background on uranium mining in South Dakota as well as 
     documentation of underground uranium mining activity within 
     the state. Mr. Peter Hanson of your office contacted us 
     earlier this week about this subject. Dr. Cathleen Webb and I 
     have conducted inventories of abandoned mines in the Black 
     Hills area for the U.S. Forest Service and for the South 
     Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, so we 
     are familiar with uranium mines in the western part of the 
     state.
       Uranium deposits were discovered in the southern Black 
     Hills of South Dakota in 1951. By 1953, the former U.S. 
     Atomic Energy Commission had established a station at 
     Edgemont in Fall River County. A mill for processing uranium 
     in Edgemont was completed in 1956. This mill served open-pit 
     and underground mining operations in the southern Black Hills 
     area. Uranium also was mined in Harding County, South Dakota.
       Production of uranium ore in South Dakota reached its peak 
     in 1964, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In the late 
     1960's, production declined after federal price supports were 
     eliminated and supply exceeded demand. The mill at Edgemont 
     ceased production of uranium concentrates in 1972 and was de-
     commissioned in the 1980's. Most uranium mines in the Black 
     Hills have been inactive or abandoned since the late 1960's 
     or early 1970's.
       Information from the former U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 
     and the U.S. Geological Survey shows that nearly one million 
     tons of uranium ore were mined in South Dakota from 1953 to 
     1972. More than one hundred mines operated at one time or 
     another in the Edgemont area, although in some cases several 
     claims were consolidated later into a single mine. Much of 
     the mining was from open pits, but at least 22 mines had 
     underground workings. These mines are listed

[[Page S10418]]

     below. Photographs of some of these mine openings are 
     reproduced on an enclosed page.
       We hope this information will be helpful. If you have any 
     questions, please feel free to contact us.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Arden D. Davis,
                              Professor of Geological Engineering.
                                                 Cathleen J. Webb,
                                 Associate Professor of Chemistry.

  Mr. CAMPBELL. Today I join my colleague, Senator Hatch, in 
introducing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 1999. 
These amendments, which are desperately needed, will help to provide 
much needed relief and assistance to many victims of uranium exposure 
and make this Act more consistent with current medical knowledge.
  From 1946 to 1971, the United States purchased domestically-mined 
uranium for our nuclear weapons arsenal. Many of these mines were 
located in western Colorado, affecting citizens in my state. With the 
uranium mined there, in my colleague's state of Utah and throughout the 
western United States, we were able to develop vast stores of nuclear 
weapons, which were the key to our national security. The cold war 
demanded that we keep producing these weapons in order to keep up with, 
and defend ourselves against, the former Soviet Union. It was not until 
many years later that scientists began to realize that, ironically, the 
uranium we were mining to help create weapons to protect us in a 
nuclear war, was actually killing those men who mined it. Also harmed 
were those brave men and women who participated in atmospheric tests of 
the weapons armed with the uranium.
  By 1971, the Atomic Energy Commission had put in place, and fully 
implemented, ventilation and safety procedures which greatly reduced 
the threat of radiation exposure. But for those miners and test-site 
participants who were involved in the atomic weapons program in the 
years before the changes, there was little more available for them than 
a kind word and pat on the back as they developed cancer and other 
diseases.
  In 1990, we took steps to change the way we treated these victims. I 
cosponsored a measure in the House which allowed victims of certain 
types of radiation exposure to file claims with the Department of 
Justice and collect up to $100,000 in damages. It was the first step 
toward acknowledging the unknown sacrifice many of those miners and 
test participants made to win the cold war.
  With the passage of the law, the Committee on the Biological Effects 
of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) began further researching the health 
effects of radiation exposure. Their studies have revealed that several 
other types of cancer and nonmalignant respiratory diseases are caused 
by exposure to radiation, in addition to those listed in the original 
act. Furthermore, the BEIR Committee has discovered that many of the 
factors we thought contributed to cancer, such as coffee consumption, 
actually have no effect. Additionally, the unnecessarily long length of 
exposure, sometimes as high as 500 working level months, was determined 
by experts to be excessive and difficult to accurately measure and 
prove. The findings of the BEIR Committee have led us to seek to update 
the original law, with the advice and input of many experts in the 
health and mining fields, by amending the act with the latest 
scientific research.
  It's time to finish what we started in the 1990 act. These victims 
need to be treated fairly and receive adequate care. We also owe it to 
the other people who worked with uranium to continue studying the 
effects of their contribution on their health. That's why this bill 
expands coverage to other uranium victims and establishes grant 
programs for education and the prevention and early detection of 
radiogenic diseases.
  I ask my colleagues to join us today in making good on our promise to 
these people who so dutifully served their nation.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today as a co-sponsor of this 
important bill to make some much needed changes to the Radiation 
Exposure Compensation Act. I am pleased to join my colleagues, 
including the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary and Indian Affairs 
Committees, in support of this legislation.
  Mr. President, my home state of New Mexico is the birthplace of the 
atomic bomb. New Mexico's national laboratories have long been involved 
in developing and testing nuclear weapons. One of the unfortunate 
consequences of our country's rapid development of its nuclear arsenal 
was that many of those who worked in the earliest uranium mines, prior 
to the implementation of government health and safety standards in 
1971, became afflicted with terrible illnesses.
  I began to notice this problem more than 20 years ago, when I learned 
that miners had contracted an alarmingly high rate of lung cancer and 
other diseases commonly related to radiation exposure.
  Many of the miners native Americans, mostly members of the Navajo 
Nation, with whom the U.S. Government has had a longstanding trust 
relationship based on the treaties and agreements between our country 
and the tribes. Some 1,500 Navajos worked in the uranium mines from 
1947 to 1971. Many of them have since died of radiation-related 
illnesses.
  All of the uranium miners, including the Navajos, performed a great 
service out of patriotic duty to this country. Their work helped us to 
win the cold war. Unfortunately, our Nation failed to fulfill its duty 
to protect the miners' health and some 20 years ago, I began the effort 
to see that the miners and their families received just compensation 
for their illnesses.
  In 1978, in the 95th Congress, I introduced the first bill to 
compensate uranium miners who contracted radiation-related diseases. 
The bill was called the Uranium Miners Compensation Act, and it was the 
predecessor to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) which is 
law today.
  The following year in 1979, I held the first field hearing on this 
issue in Grants, NM, to learn about the concerns and the health 
problems faced by uranium miners. In later years, I traveled to 
Shiprock, NM, and the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation to gather more 
information about the uranium mines and their families.
  Twelve years after I introduced that first bill, President Bush 
signed RECA into law. At the time, RECA was intended to provide fair 
and swift compensation for those miners and downwinders who 
had contracted certain radiation-related illnesses.

  Since the RECA trust fund began making awards in 1992, the Department 
of Justice has approved a total 3,135 claims valued at nearly $232 
million. In my home state of New Mexico, there have been 371 claims 
approved with a value of nearly $37 million. For that work, the 
Department of Justice is to be commended.
  The original RECA was a compassionate law which unfortunately has 
come to be administered in a bureaucratic, dispassionate and often 
unfair manner. Many claims have languished at the Department of Justice 
for far too long.
  Miners and their families, particularly Navajos, often have waited 
many years for their claims to be processed. Many claims were denied 
because the miners were smokers and could not prove that their diseases 
were related solely to uranium mining. In other cases, miners faced 
problems establishing the requisite amount of working level months 
needed to make a successful claim. Native American claims by spousal 
survivors often were denied because of difficulties associated with 
documenting native American marriages.
  This bill makes some important, common sense changes to the radiation 
compensation program to address the problems I have outlined. First, it 
expands the list of compensable diseases to include new cancers, 
including leukemia, thyroid, and brain cancer. It also includes certain 
noncancer diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis. Medical science has 
been able to link these diseases to uranium mining in the 10 years 
since the enactment of the original RECA. We now know that prolonged 
radiation exposure can cause many additional diseases. This bill uses 
the best available science to make sure that those who were injured by 
radiation exposure are compensated.
  The bill also extends eligibility to above-ground and open-pit 
miners, millers and transport workers. The latest science tells us that 
the risks of disease associated with radiation exposure were not 
necessarily limited to those who worked in unventilated mines.

[[Page S10419]]

  Most importantly, the bill requires the Department of Justice to take 
native American law and customs into account when deciding claims. I 
have heard countless stories about the inequities faced by the spouses 
of Navajo miners who have been unable to successfully document their 
traditional tribal marriages to the satisfaction of the Justice 
Department under current law and regulations. This bill will change 
that, and make it easier for spousal survivors to make successful 
claims.
  Mr. President, I am pleased to co-sponsor this important legislation. 
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost close 
to $1 billion over the next 21 years. That is far less than some of the 
other proposals floated in the House and Senate during the past few 
years. This is a commonsense approach, which addresses many of the 
problems with the existing program, without unnecessarily expanding the 
scope of the Radiation Exposure compensation Act. The chairman of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee has done a fine job crafting this bill and I 
have been pleased to work with him in that regard. I look forward to 
helping move this bill through the Senate.
                                 ______