[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT FAIRNESS ACT OF 2004

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                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 18, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Special Exposure Cohort Fairness Act of 2004.
  On October 30, 2000, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was enacted into law. The purpose of 
this law was to provide for timely, uniform, and adequate compensation 
of covered employees suffering from illnesses incurred as a result of 
their work at Department of Energy facilities. While this law's 
enactment was welcome and past due, serious flaws in the program have 
been apparent during the years since its passage, and delays in getting 
compensation to workers have been numerous.
  The language in Subtitle B of the EEOICPA clearly states that where 
it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation 
dose of a class of workers, and if there is a reasonable likelihood 
that the radiation dose may have endangered the health of the members 
of the group, that class of workers may petition to be included in a 
Special Exposure Cohort. Special Exposure Cohort status provides an 
automatic presumption of causation for 22 radiation-related cancers. 
When the law was passed, Special Exposure Cohorts were designated by 
Congress at four facilities.
  The men and women who were exposed to harmful doses of radiation 
while working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have waited years 
for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a rule 
designating the process for classes of workers to petition to be in a 
Special Exposure Cohort. As a result of this unfair delay, workers have 
been unable to file petitions to become members of a Cohort. Four years 
after the bill was passed in Congress, a Special Exposure Cohort rule 
was finally issued last night. But workers cannot wait any longer for 
their compensation--it is simply unfair to ask them to do so. Moreover, 
a report issued on May 5, 2004 by the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the CDC stated that some 
facilities are not consistently providing adequate responses to data 
requests for dose reconstruction. The report details the Los Alamos 
National Laboratory's (LANL) lack of full compliance. Data issued in 
the report shows that of the 548 dose reconstruction cases pending with 
LANL on January 15 of this year, 499 had been pending for over 150 
days.
  The bill I am introducing today is a step in the right direction to 
help many of my constituents who have suffered because of their having 
worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I continue to hear from 
constituents who were exposed to harmful doses of radiation and who are 
wondering why they have had to wait years to receive their 
compensation. Workers cannot wait any longer for a flawed bureaucratic 
process to start working.
  My bill allows energy employees who were employed for at least 250 
days between 1945 and 2000 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Area 
G, linear accelerator, or who were security guards or construction 
workers, to be considered as members of a Special Exposure Cohort. In 
addition, the bill will allow employees who worked anywhere at Los 
Alamos National Laboratory, and whose records have not been received by 
NIOSH from the Lab within 200 days of receipt, to qualify under the 
Special Cohort. It is worth noting that the enactment of the 
legislation would not preclude additional groups of workers in New 
Mexico from seeking to become part of the Special Exposure Cohort.
  Subtitle B is unfortunately only one component of the original 
EEOICPA law that needs amending. There are many outstanding issues that 
I will continue to work on with my colleagues, including fixing 
physicians panels, speeding up dose reconstructions, and locating a 
willing payer for all meritorious claims. This bill represents just one 
step in the larger fight to ensure that energy workers get the 
compensation they deserve.
  Since enactment of the EEOICPA in 2000, the New Mexico legislature 
has passed two House Joint Memorials calling for the creation of a 
Special Exposure Cohort for the facilities listed in this bill. 
Hearings have been conducted; reports have been issued. Meanwhile, many 
of the claimants in this program are so ill that they may never see the 
compensation check that they deserve--a small source of comfort for 
them and their families in return for the harmful exposures they 
suffered. It is time for action.

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