[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1657-E1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPENSATION AND RESPECT FOR ENERGY WORKERS ACT 
                              ``CARE ACT''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing a bill 
to improve the workings of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).
  The bill, cosponsored by my Colorado colleague, Mr. Perlmutter, is 
entitled the Compensation and Respect for Energy Workers Act ( or 
``CARE Act'').
  It is similar to legislation with that title introduced in the Senate 
by Senator Salazar, but unlike the Senate version it also includes a 
section that would amend the EEOICPA to expand the number of former 
workers at the Rocky Flats site in Colorado covered by the ``special 
exposure cohort'' provisions of that law. This part of the new bill is 
identical to section 3 of H.R. 904, which I introduced with Mr. 
Perlmutter last year.
  The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program Act (EEOICPA) was 
enacted to compensate American workers (and certain survivors) who put 
their health and life on the line to serve our Nation during the Cold 
War. Among them were thousands of Coloradans who worked at Rocky Flats 
as well as some other sites covered by the EEOICPA law. Many of them 
developed beryllium disease, cancer, or other ailments from being 
exposed to beryllium, radiation, or other hazards.
  When I was first elected to Congress, I began working with colleagues 
in the House and Senate--on both sides of the aisle--to provide a 
measure of justice for them and those with similar problems who worked 
at other nuclear-weapons sites.
  Before the Clinton Administration, the federal government had 
resisted paying claims filed by injured workers. But, led by Bill 
Richardson as Secretary of Energy, the Clinton Administration took a 
different position and asked Congress to establish a compensation 
program.
  That prompted me and other Members to introduce legislation to 
accomplish that objective. And I was among those who strongly supported 
the EEOICPA provisions that were finally enacted into law in 2000.
  But the next year brought a new Administration that, regrettably, has 
not been as strong an advocate of the program as its predecessor. In 
fact, after the Bush Administration inherited this program, they have 
both mismanaged it and tried to undermine it. They seemed not to 
realize that this is not just about money, but about the honor of the 
United States.
  With other supporters of the program, I have worked to get the 
Administration to improve its implementation--and I will continue to do 
so.
  But I also have worked to correct problems with the EEOICPA law 
itself--and the bill I am introducing today is part of that ongoing 
effort.
  While many people have received benefits under the Program, too many 
face incredible obstacles as they try to demonstrate that they qualify. 
More than 8 years after enactment, workers have died without receiving 
the healthcare or compensation they deserve. In fact, a combination of 
missing records and bureaucratic red tape has prevented many workers 
from accessing any compensation for their serious illnesses.
  The CARE Act is designed to expand the category of individuals 
eligible for compensation, improve the procedures for providing 
compensation and transparency, and grant the Office of the Ombudsman 
greater authority to help workers.
  Toward that end, the first 10 sections of the bill would:
  Expand the list of cancers for which individuals are eligible to 
receive compensation--this would be done by amending the relevant part 
of another law, the Radiation Exposures Compensation Act (RECA) because 
EEOICPA adopts that law's list by reference.
  Require the Department of Labor (DOL) to pay a claimant's estate 
should a claimant die after filing their claim but before receiving 
payment and leave no survivors.
  Expand the duties of the Office of the EEOICPA Ombudsman to include 
the ability to provide information to claimants on benefits available 
under Part B.
  Grant the Ombudsman the authority to contract for expert services to 
assist in the execution of its duties (e.g., individuals with expertise 
in health physics, medicine and toxicology).
  Require DOL to provide the public with access to the ``site exposure 
matrix'' and any other databases or site profiles used to evaluate 
claims for compensation.
  Expand the statute of limitations to 1 year to provide ample time for 
workers whose claims have been denied to file a petition in federal 
court.
  Require any federal agency with jurisdiction over the program to 
provide information to claimants in easily understandable language and, 
if a claim is denied, provide claimants with a detailed, written 
explanation of all reasons for the denial and the additional documents, 
evidence, or information necessary to meet the burden of proof on 
appeal.

[[Page E1658]]

  Require the Office the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs to 
directly pay service providers for personal care services and 
transportation to assist low-income claimants who cannot afford to 
cover the cost of necessary medical and transportation expenses and 
wait for reimbursement from the government.
  Require claims examiners to provide written notice to claimants who 
file under either Part B or Part E of potential monetary or medical 
compensation for which they may be eligible.
  Require DOL to provide a list of physicians qualified to perform 
medical and impairment screenings from independent medical associations 
and institutions of higher education.
  Prohibit the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Labor from destroying 
original documents related to any DOE facility that might reasonably be 
expected to be used by workers in support of filing claims under 
EEOICPA.
  And, section 11 of the bill would revise the part of the EEOICPA law 
that specifies which covered workers are part of what the law 
designates as the ``Special Exposure Cohort.''
  The revision would extend this ``special exposure cohort'' status to 
Department of Energy employees, Department of Energy contractor 
employees, or atomic weapons employees--all terms defined by the 
current law--who worked at the Rocky Flats site, in Colorado, for at 
least 250 days prior to January 1, 2006.
  The result would be to help provide the Act's benefits to any of 
those workers who contracted a radiation-linked cancer specified in the 
Act after beginning employment at Rocky Flats.
  As the law now stands, before a Rocky Flats worker suffering from a 
covered cancer can receive benefits, it must be established that the 
cancer is as likely as not to have resulted from on-the-job exposure to 
radiation. That sounds like a reasonable requirement and it would be 
appropriate for Rocky Flats if we had adequate documentation of 
radiation exposures for the years when it was producing nuclear-weapons 
components as well as for the more recent time when DOE and its 
contractors have been working to clean it up and prepare it for 
closure.
  However, in fact there were serious shortcomings in the monitoring of 
Rocky Flats workers' radiation exposures and in the necessary 
recordkeeping--to say nothing of the slowness of the current 
administrative process for making the required determinations 
concerning links between exposure and employment.
  So there is a risk that a significant number of Rocky Flats workers 
who should be able to benefit from the Act will not obtain its benefits 
in a timely manner or will be denied them entirely.
  The bill would prevent this miscarriage of justice, by recognizing 
that Rocky Flats workers have been plagued by the same kinds of 
administrative problems that entangled workers at some other 
locations--administrative problems that were addressed through 
inclusion in the Act of the provisions related to the ``Special 
Exposure Cohort.''
  My understating of the need for this bill came from meeting with 
Rocky Flats workers and their representatives and by consulting 
experts. I have particularly benefited from the great experience and 
expertise of Dr. Robert Bistline. Dr. Bistline has served as Program 
Manager of the Energy Department's Oversight of Radiation Protection 
Program at the Rocky Flats field office and has few if any peers in 
terms of his understanding of the problems addressed by the bill. In 
particular, the bill reflects these aspects of Rocky Flats history:
  Many worker exposures were unmonitored over the plant's history. For 
some estimated doses were assigned, and radiation exposures for many 
others are missing. As a result, there are at best incomplete records 
and many inaccuracies in the exposure records that do exist.
  No lung counter for detecting and measuring plutonium and americium 
in the lungs existed at Rocky Flats until the late 1960's. Without this 
equipment the very insoluble oxide forms of plutonium cannot be 
detected and a large number of workers had inhalation exposures that 
went undetected and unmeasured.
  Exposure to neutron radiation was not monitored until the late 1950's 
and most of those measurements through 1970 have been found to be in 
error. In some areas of the plant the neutron doses were as much as 2 
to 10 times as great as the gamma doses received by workers but only 
gamma doses were recorded.
  As a result of these and other shortcomings, some Rocky Flats workers 
have been denied compensation under the Act despite having worked with 
tons of plutonium and having known exposures leading to serious health 
effects.
  Madam Speaker, since early in my tenure in Congress I have worked to 
make good on promises of a fairer deal for the nuclear-weapons workers 
who helped America win the Cold War. That was why enactment and 
improvement of the compensation Act has been one of my top priorities. 
I saw this as a very important matter for our country--and especially 
for many Coloradans because our State is home to the Rocky Flats site, 
which for decades was a key part of the nuclear-weapons complex.
  Now the site's military mission has ended and the last of the Rocky 
Flats workers have completed the job of cleaning it up for closure. And 
just as they worked to take care of the site, we in Congress need to 
take care of them and the others who worked there in the past, and do a 
better job of taking care of those who have worked at other sites as 
well.
  That was the purpose of the compensation act. I am very proud that I 
was able to help achieve its enactment, but I am also aware that it is 
not perfect. The bill being introduced today will not remedy all the 
shortcomings of the current law, but it will make it better.

                          ____________________