[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REFORM OF ENERGY WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT (REWCA)

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                          HON. TED STRICKLAND

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 2002

  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to reform 
the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 
2000 (EEOICPA).
  The Department of Energy (DOE) has conceded that, over the 50 year 
history of making nuclear weapons, it consistently placed production 
imperatives ahead of worker health and safety. In the fall of 1999, DOE 
admitted that it had placed these Cold War Veterans in harm's way 
without their knowledge or consent and that compensation was due.
  In the spring of 2000, the President's National Economic Council 
issued a report that identified 14 DOE facilities where there was an 
excess rate of cancer which was attributable to radiation. This report 
also noted that state worker compensation systems were not well-suited 
for compensating occupational diseases due to a variety of hurdles, 
such as statutes of limitations. Also in the spring of 2000, the House 
and Senate introduced bipartisan legislation to establish a federal 
compensation program for these sick nuclear workers and their 
survivors. Congress held hearings in the House and Senate on 
legislation that would provide compensation to employees of DOE who 
were exposed to radiation, beryllium, silica and numerous other toxic 
substances used in making nuclear weapons.
  The compromise which emerged from the conference committee in October 
2000 created two separate programs: one for workers exposed to 
radiation, beryllium and silica which is administered by the Department 
of Labor, and a second for workers exposed to toxic substances and 
other hazardous materials which is administered, in part, by the 
Department of Energy. This second program, codified under Subtitle D, 
is the primary focus of the reform legislation today.
  Under Subtitle D, the Department of Energy is required to use a 
Physician's Panel to review claims related to exposure to toxic 
substance. This Panel determines whether an illness is work related and 
relies upon individual state worker compensation programs to make 
payments for wage loss and medical costs. However, this approach, by 
DOE's own admission, will not work for these occupational illness cases 
because at least 50 percent of the claimants will not have a ``willing 
payor'' who will honor the findings of the Department of Energy 
Physician's Panel. Congress intended to create a uniform, adequate and 
equitable federal compensation program for these workers who toiled in 
the nation's nuclear weapons factories in service to our nation. It is 
simply unacceptable for the government to tell these workers that help 
is on the way, and then move forward with a program where potentially 
there is no one to pay as many as half the claims. This law needs to be 
fixed.
  The introduction of REWCA, the Reform of Energy Workers Compensation 
Act, aims to fulfill Congress' original objectives and ensure all of 
the nation's nuclear workers who were made sick from their jobs in 
nuclear weapons factories through no fault of their own receive a 
measure of just compensation for their disabilities and illnesses.

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