[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1967]]
   CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4200, RONALD W. REAGAN NATIONAL DEFENSE 
                 AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us contains several extremely 
important provisions. They are designed to provide essential medical 
care and compensation for the brave Americans who worked from the 1950s 
through the 1970s to build this Nation's atomic weapons, often at 
serious risk to their own health and well-being. In far too many cases, 
these atomic energy workers were deliberately misled about the serious 
health risks their occupational exposure to radiation, heavy metals, 
and other toxic and dangerous substances would entail. Although 
Congress enacted the Energy Employee Occupation Illness Compensation 
Program Act, EEOICPA, in 2000 to provide such workers with essential 
medical care for specified types of cancer and compensation for their 
inability to work due to illness, a scarce few actually received it. 
Moreover, a number of workers died without the government ever making 
good on its promises to recognize their critical contributions to 
national defense work. In such cases, the surviving spouses and 
dependent children of these workers remain justly entitled to 
compensation.
  Mr. Speaker, in the early 1950s there were two atomic weapons 
employers in my district, the 11th Congressional District of New York. 
One such plant, the American Machine and Foundry, AMF, designed and 
produced industrial equipment for the Atomic Energy Commission. By 
carrying out metal machining work for the Atomic Energy Commission--
with uranium, thorium and zirconium--employees at this plant were 
exposed on a daily basis to large volumes of radioactive and hazardous 
metals. A second plant in my district, the Wolff-Alport Chemical 
Corporation, procured thorium sludge for stockpiling by the Atomic 
Energy Commission. Wolff-Alport Chemical workers were likewise exposed 
to thousands of pounds of dangerous radioactive substances.
  Mr. Speaker, the provisions in this bill will settle long-standing 
health care and compensation claims by providing guaranteed Federal 
benefits for eligible employees whose work in Department of Energy 
nuclear facilities caused serious illness, impairment and/or disabling 
conditions. Likewise, this bill will guarantee Federal benefits for the 
uranium miners, millers and transporters made ill as a result of their 
work and covered under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, 
RECA.
  From Brooklyn, NY, to Berkeley, CA, the atomic energy workers and 
surviving relatives have been hurt twice. First, many workers 
contracted grave diseases, often after a long latency period, as a 
result of exposure to dangerous nuclear and toxic materials. Second, 
the workers and their families were hurt for too many years by a policy 
of denial with respect to our national responsibility to them. It is 
imperative we reverse this policy of denial for once and for all. This 
bill accomplishes just that. It provides a guaranteed Federal benefit 
for the critical health care and compensation these workers and their 
families both require and deserve. In closing, I would like to thank my 
distinguished colleague from Missouri, the ranking minority member of 
the Armed Services Committee, as well as minority and majority staff, 
for their hard work and persistence in making certain these deserving 
workers and families will finally get justice.

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