[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF A BILL TO INCLUDE VETERANS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CLEAN-
 UP OF ENIWETOK ATOLL AS A RADIATION-RISK ACTIVITY FOR THE PURPOSES OF 
         LAWS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

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                       HON. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 19, 2009

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, today I have reintroduced a bill, along 
with my colleagues, Congressman Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii and 
Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa, to amend Title 38 of 
the United States Code to explicitly define participation in clean-up 
operations that were undertaken by the United States Army at Eniwetok 
Atoll of the Republic of the Marshall Islands as a ``radiation-risk 
activity'' for the purposes of qualifying veterans who participated in 
such operations for service-connected benefits administered by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would correct in statute a 
long-standing inequity for veterans who participated in clean-up of 
radioactive materials and debris on Eniwetok Atoll resulting from 
forty-three atmospheric nuclear detonations that occurred there and 
that were conducted by the United States Government during the late 
1940s and throughout the 1950s. Servicemembers were detailed to 
Eniwetok Atoll during or around the years 1977 through 1982 to confine 
and cap contaminated soil. Part of the clean-up operations involved the 
construction of a concrete dome to cover a crater.
  The legislation we have reintroduced today would simply allow 
veterans who participated in any clean-up activity on Eniwetok Atoll 
during their course of their service to be deemed eligible for 
Department of Veterans Affairs radiation programs. Such programs 
provide medical benefits to certain veterans who were exposed to 
radiation while on Active Duty. Veterans who are currently covered 
under radiation-risk activities include those who participated on-site 
in executing the atmospheric tests in the Pacific Basin.
  We recognize and commend the atomic veterans who performed clean-up 
operations on Eniwetok Atoll and thank them for their service to our 
nation. I introduced the same legislation in the 110th Congress to 
correct this concern. I hope that our legislation will be given fair 
consideration by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the current 
Congress. I further hope the Department of Defense makes available to 
the public, to our veterans and their families, and to the Department 
of Veterans Affairs all recorded relating to the nature of the tests 
and clean-up activities that were undertaken on Eniwetok Atoll.

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