[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E58]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE WAYNE OWENS, FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM 
                                  UTAH

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Cannon) for all he has done in organizing these words today 
on the floor for Wayne Owens. His untimely death was unfortunate and a 
real loss to this country.
  Wayne Owens was a fine public servant. Many will talk and some 
already have about his tireless efforts for peace in the Middle East, 
but Wayne had an extensive legislative record here in the House of 
Representatives. During his term, he helped secure funding for the 
large-scale Colorado River Storage Project that is the main source of 
water for Utah and other Western States. He continually fought for 
wilderness designation to protect vast expanses of Utah's mountains 
from development.
  Wayne was not afraid to take a stand for what he believed in. For 
example, in 1987 he introduced legislation to reintroduce wolves into 
Yellowstone National Park to help save the threatened species. He was 
the only member of the Utah congressional delegation to vote against 
giving former President Bush the authority to go to war against Iraq in 
1991. No matter the issue, Wayne voted his conscience.
  The issue that I specifically would like to talk about today is his 
bringing justice to the Colorado plateau uranium miners.
  Wayne saw this as a situation with the Colorado uranium miners that 
had to have justice be brought to the situation. And what happened is 
these uranium miners went into mines on the Colorado plateau, worked in 
very dangerous, dirty air mines. There were high radon levels, as the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) knows. He has worked on this very 
issue. The government knew these levels were very high. Government 
doctors did reports and doctors issued studies, but nobody told the 
uranium miners that there was really a problem. And so many years they 
continued to work in these uranium mines, 10 or 15 years in these dirty 
air mines.
  As many of us know, when you contract radon in a uranium mine and it 
is at high levels what ends up happening is 10 or 15 years down the 
line you get lung cancer, and that is in fact what happened on the 
Colorado plateau, an epidemic of lung cancer. Lawsuits were brought on 
behalf of these uranium miners but many of them were unsuccessful. My 
father was one of the ones, Stewart Udall, that brought many of the 
lawsuits and represented the miners. He just told me the other day when 
we learned of Wayne's death, he said, if it had not been for Wayne at 
that particular point when the miners lost their lawsuits, when the 
families were discouraged, when they thought there was going to be no 
justice, it was Wayne Owens that picked up the fight. And he went out 
and held hearings and he involved Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank and the 
Committee on the Judiciary and brought justice to this situation by 
helping pass a piece of legislation known as the Radiation Exposure 
Compensation Act. And many families today in Utah and across the 
Colorado plateau are now in much better shape because of Wayne Owens' 
efforts on that piece of legislation.
  In closing, I want to say that Wayne genuinely loved people and was 
extremely generous with time and resources. He was a wonderful and 
caring husband and father. His wife, Marlene, five children and 
fourteen grandchildren always knew of his unconditional love. He had 
boundless energy and reached out to everyone he met. He treated 
everyone with respect. Perhaps there is no greater way to be remembered 
than that.
  It is my privilege to pay tribute to Wayne Owens for his commitment 
and service. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, 
and the State of Utah.
  When I reflect upon the lives of men such as Wayne Owens, who 
dedicated his life to serving others, I am reminded of the principles 
of public service.

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