[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BURNS:
  S. 977. A bill to include claims for injuries and death due to 
exposure during certain time periods form fallout emitted during the 
Government's above-ground nuclear tests in Nevada that exposed 
individuals who lived in the downwind affected area in the State of 
Montana; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, in Montana, when someone does something to 
hurt someone else, they make it right. Not just because it is the right 
thing to do, but because in this State we shoot straight and take 
responsibility for our actions that's why I'm working to bring some of 
that Montana ethic to Washington to get the Federal Government to make 
amends for actions that have caused too many Montanans great pain and 
suffering.
  Nuclear testing in Nevada during the 1950's threw blooms of 
radioactive Iodine-131, I-131, high into the atmosphere. Those who were 
affected are sometimes referred to as ``Down Winders'' because the wind 
carried the poisonous iodine north to Montana where gravity finally 
kicked in and the radioactive material settled to the ground. It 
eventually got into the milk supply--one of the primary sources of 
Iodine 131--and disproportionately affected milk drinkers. And who 
drinks milk? Children and babies, who are the most vulnerable in 
society.
  Iodine-131 is absorbed by the thyroid--the organ of the body that 
uses iodine to produce important hormones. It can take between 20 and 
40 years, but eventually the damage caused by Iodine-131 manifests 
itself as thyroid cancer. I've had cancer, and I understand the 
physical, mental and emotional pain that follows this terrible disease. 
I know the pain, and it is time that the government made right the harm 
it has caused to people in my State of Montana.
  In 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act or RECA was signed 
into law. This measure provided financial compensation for victims 
living downwind of the Nevada Test Site to the tune of $50,000 per 
person. The law covered select counties in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. 
Later, this Act was amended to include compensation for uranium miners 
in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
  However, Montana, with 15 of the 25 counties with the highest dosage, 
Meagher, Broadwater, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Powell, Judith Basin, 
Madison, Fergus, Gallatin, Petroleum, Lewis and Clark, Blaine, Silver 
Bow, Chouteau and Deer Lodge, single most affected county in the United 
States, Meagher, is the only State in the affected region to receive no 
RECA compensation at all. If that doesn't sound right, it's because 
it's not.
  Montanans have experienced unbelievably high rates of thyroid cancer. 
Between 1989 and 2003, the national rate of thyroid cancer increased by 
38 percent. In that same timeframe, Montana's rate increased by a 
whopping 127 percent. And yet, Montana is the only State in the region 
that is excluded from RECA. In 2000, the rate of reported thyroid 
cancer in Montana was 17.5 times greater than the national rate. And 
yet, Montana is the only State in the region that is excluded from 
RECA.
  On April 28, 2005, at the request of Congress, a report was released 
by the National Academy of Sciences. The 500-page report confirms the 
inadequacy of current RECA compensation. Most importantly, it supports 
the fact that Montana was one of the worst affected States. The fact is 
that folks in Montana were involuntarily subjected to increased risk of 
injury and disease in order to serve the national security interests of 
the United States. Moreover, they deserve our compassion and support. I 
strongly encourage my colleagues to support the expansion of RECA to my 
State of Montana.
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