[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 144 (Monday, August 9, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6105-S6106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIVES AND LEGACIES OF THE ``RADIUM GIRLS''
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and
the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 285.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 285) honoring the lives and legacies
of the ``Radium Girls''.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Menendez substitute
amendment at the desk to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution,
as amended, be agreed to; the Menendez amendment at the desk to the
preamble be agreed; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that
the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2724) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to
as follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following: ``That the Senate--
(1) honors the Radium Girls and their determination to seek
justice in the face of overwhelming obstacles;
(2) recognizes the invaluable contributions of the Radium
Girls to developing modern workplace safety standards; and
(3) reaffirms the importance of protecting the health and
safety of all workers in the United States.
The resolution (S. Res. 285), as amended, was agreed to.
The amendment (No. 2725) to the preamble was agreed to as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
Whereas Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898,
sparking a craze for radium-infused consumer goods in the
early 20th century;
Whereas many entrepreneurs touted radium's supposedly
limitless curative properties, even as some scientists began
to report serious health hazards associated with the element;
Whereas the ``Radium Girls'' were teenaged girls and young
women who, starting in 1917, worked in United States
factories painting watch dials and airplane instruments using
glow-in-the-dark, radium-infused paint;
Whereas the early Radium Girls painted watches and
instruments that United States troops relied on during World
War I;
Whereas the majority of the Radium Girls worked for
corporations located in Orange, New Jersey, Ottawa, Illinois,
and Waterbury, Connecticut;
Whereas the Radium Girls primarily came from working-class
backgrounds and some were first- and second-generation
Americans;
Whereas, in several instances, the radium corporations'
leadership knew that the element could be harmful to human
health, but they did not inform the Radium Girls of the risks
or implement basic safety standards;
Whereas, in many cases, the radium corporations' management
encouraged the Radium Girls to keep their paintbrush tips
moist and as fine as possible by putting the paint-covered
brushes between their lips, a technique known as ``lip-
pointing'';
Whereas, due to lip-pointing, many of the early Radium
Girls ingested extremely harmful quantities of radium;
Whereas the Radium Girls breathed in radium-infused dust
and touched radium-infused paint, and they often glowed by
the end of the workday due to the radioactive paint on their
clothes and skin;
Whereas many of the Radium Girls began to experience
mysterious health problems, including necrosis (rotting) of
the jaw, cancer, anemia, bone fractures, and infertility;
Whereas many of the Radium Girls were eventually plagued by
debilitating physical pain and severe disabilities;
Whereas an unknown number of the approximately 4,000 Radium
Girls died prematurely or experienced the devastating health
effects of radium poisoning;
Whereas some physicians and dentists initially dismissed
the Radium Girls' hypothesis that their illnesses were linked
to their occupations;
Whereas, in some cases, the radium corporations conspired
with members of the medical community to conceal the origins
of the Radium Girls' illnesses and smear their reputations;
Whereas a number of the Radium Girls, in different States,
fought to secure justice for themselves, their families, and
their colleagues by suing the radium corporations;
Whereas the Radium Girls' difficult and prolonged legal
battles and often horrific medical conditions drew national
attention;
Whereas some of the Radium Girls who challenged the radium
corporations were shunned by their communities for harming
the reputation of a prominent local employer;
Whereas many of the surviving Radium Girls volunteered to
participate in scientific studies on the effects of radium on
the human body;
Whereas investigations of the Radium Girls' illnesses led
to the creation of the new scientific field of human
radiobiology;
Whereas the Federal Government relied on data from the
Radium Girls' cases to develop safety standards for radium
and other radioactive materials for factory workers, medical
personnel, and scientists, including the workers and
scientists of the Manhattan Project;
Whereas some of the Radium Girls and their families
received either no compensation or only meager compensation
related to their harmful exposure to radium and their
contributions to science;
Whereas the Radium Girls' highly publicized case was among
the first in which the courts held an employer responsible
for the safety and health of its workers;
Whereas the Radium Girls' struggle was a turning point in
the movement to promote workers' safety and occupational
health reforms; and
Whereas many workers in the United States today are still
fighting for a safe and equitable workplace: Now, therefore,
be it
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows
S. Res. 285
Whereas Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898,
sparking a craze for radium-infused consumer goods in the
early 20th century;
Whereas many entrepreneurs touted radium's supposedly
limitless curative properties, even as some scientists began
to report serious health hazards associated with the element;
Whereas the ``Radium Girls'' were teenaged girls and young
women who, starting in 1917, worked in United States
factories painting watch dials and airplane instruments using
glow-in-the-dark, radium-infused paint;
Whereas the early Radium Girls painted watches and
instruments that United States troops relied on during World
War I;
Whereas the majority of the Radium Girls worked for
corporations located in Orange, New Jersey, Ottawa, Illinois,
and Waterbury, Connecticut;
Whereas the Radium Girls primarily came from working-class
backgrounds and some were first- and second-generation
Americans;
Whereas, in several instances, the radium corporations'
leadership knew that the element could be harmful to human
health, but they did not inform the Radium Girls of the risks
or implement basic safety standards;
Whereas, in many cases, the radium corporations' management
encouraged the Radium Girls to keep their paintbrush tips
moist and as fine as possible by putting the paint-covered
brushes between their lips, a technique known as ``lip-
pointing'';
Whereas, due to lip-pointing, many of the early Radium
Girls ingested extremely harmful quantities of radium;
Whereas the Radium Girls breathed in radium-infused dust
and touched radium-infused paint, and they often glowed by
the end of the workday due to the radioactive paint on their
clothes and skin;
Whereas many of the Radium Girls began to experience
mysterious health problems, including necrosis (rotting) of
the jaw, cancer, anemia, bone fractures, and infertility;
Whereas many of the Radium Girls were eventually plagued by
debilitating physical pain and severe disabilities;
Whereas an unknown number of the approximately 4,000 Radium
Girls died prematurely or experienced the devastating health
effects of radium poisoning;
Whereas some physicians and dentists initially dismissed
the Radium Girls' hypothesis that their illnesses were linked
to their occupations;
Whereas, in some cases, the radium corporations conspired
with members of the medical community to conceal the origins
of the Radium Girls' illnesses and smear their reputations;
Whereas a number of the Radium Girls, in different States,
fought to secure justice for themselves, their families, and
their colleagues by suing the radium corporations;
Whereas the Radium Girls' difficult and prolonged legal
battles and often horrific medical conditions drew national
attention;
Whereas some of the Radium Girls who challenged the radium
corporations were shunned by their communities for harming
the reputation of a prominent local employer;
Whereas many of the surviving Radium Girls volunteered to
participate in scientific studies on the effects of radium on
the human body;
Whereas investigations of the Radium Girls' illnesses led
to the creation of the new scientific field of human
radiobiology;
Whereas the Federal Government relied on data from the
Radium Girls' cases to develop safety standards for radium
and other radioactive materials for factory workers, medical
personnel, and scientists, including the workers and
scientists of the Manhattan Project;
Whereas some of the Radium Girls and their families
received either no compensation or only meager compensation
related to their harmful exposure to radium and their
contributions to science;
[[Page S6106]]
Whereas the Radium Girls' highly publicized case was among
the first in which the courts held an employer responsible
for the safety and health of its workers;
Whereas the Radium Girls' struggle was a turning point in
the movement to promote workers' safety and occupational
health reforms; and
Whereas many workers in the United States today are still
fighting for a safe and equitable workplace: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) honors the Radium Girls and their determination to seek
justice in the face of overwhelming obstacles;
(2) recognizes the invaluable contributions of the Radium
Girls to developing modern workplace safety standards; and
(3) reaffirms the importance of protecting the health and
safety of all workers in the United States.
____________________