[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S6216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Ms. 
        Murkowski, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. Heinrich):
  S. 1423. A bill to amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program Act of 2000 to strengthen the quality control 
measures in place for part B lung disease claims and to establish the 
Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health for the contractor 
employee compensation program under subtitle E of such Act; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise to speak about 
bipartisan legislation I am introducing today with Senator Alexander to 
provide much needed help to our Cold War patriots.
  In 2000, Congress passed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 
Compensation Program to help Cold War workers like those from Rocky 
Flats in my home state of Colorado and other nuclear weapons facilities 
around the country. This effort was designed to get these patriots the 
help they need to treat cancer and other illnesses they developed as a 
result of exposure to radiation. Since then, the program has been 
plagued by procedural inconsistencies and delays preventing former 
nuclear workers from accessing the benefits they are owed.
  In March 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a 
report on the efficacy of EEOICPA, confirming workers' ongoing 
frustrations with the program and recommending that Congress consider 
creating an advisory board. More recently, in March 2013, the Institute 
of Medicine issued a report recommending that an external advisory 
panel be created to review the health effects of the Department of 
Labor's approach to awarding benefits.
  Today, Senator Alexander and I are reintroducing our bill requiring 
the President to establish an independent advisory panel to do just 
that. This advisory board would add much needed transparency and 
certainty to decisions made affecting workers' compensation and access 
to benefits.
  Some 600,000 Cold War era workers, including thousands of workers at 
Rocky Flats, put their health on the line to preserve our national 
security during one of the most uncertain times in our nation's 
history. They were exposed to radiation and are sick and dying. Our 
country made a commitment to these patriots, but so far that promise 
has not been kept. Coloradans find that unacceptable. We cannot let 
another family suffer through the uncertainty of delays caused by 
bureaucratic red tape or see their loved ones denied the benefits they 
deserve. It is time for us to do right by these workers.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and Senator Alexander in this fight 
by cosponsoring this important legislation.
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