[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
                     THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as the world prepares to commemorate the 
20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, I rise in support 
of House Resolution 703 recognizing the 20th anniversary of the 
Chernobyl nuclear disaster and supporting continued efforts to control 
radiation and mitigate the adverse health consequences related to the 
Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
  The scope of the devastation that followed that explosion was truly 
unprecedented. More than 600,000 emergency workers, liquidators, risked 
their lives putting out the reactor's inferno that raged for 10 days 
while exposing themselves to extremely high and deadly doses of 
radiation. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their 
homes because of radioactive contamination. More than 5 million people 
in Ukraine, Belarus, and Western Russia found themselves coping with 
life in towns and villages contaminated by iodine and cesium.
  In the Record I will place a full statement regarding this resolution 
as well as support from the Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund and the 
Chernobyl Children's Project International for the incredible work that 
they continue to do two decades later in dealing with the devastation 
that still lives.

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