[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 28 (Monday, July 19, 1999)]
[Page 1382]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Occupational Illness Compensation for Energy Contractor 
Personnel

July 15, 1999

Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the 
Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Energy, the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy

Subject: Occupational Illness Compensation for Energy Contractor 
Personnel

    Contractor personnel working for the Department of Energy (DOE) and 
its predecessor agencies helped our Nation win the Cold War but often 
faced dangerous working conditions. A small number of them were exposed 
to beryllium, a metal used in the production of weapons, and 
subsequently contracted chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a debilitating 
lung disease for which there is no cure. Most of those exposed worked 
under contract for the DOE and are not covered by the Federal workers' 
compensation program. As a result many of those with CBD have not 
received the occupational illness benefits otherwise available to 
regular Federal employees.
    Today, I am pleased to announce that my Administration will submit 
draft legislation to the Congress that would create a new program to 
give DOE contractor employees with CBD and beryllium sensitivity the 
same benefits--certain medical costs and lost wages--now available to 
Federal employees. The American people believe in fairness, and I am 
sure that they would find it fair to provide this reasonable 
compensation to this small group of people who contributed so much to 
their country's well-being and who now are suffering from this incurable 
disease.
    Under my draft legislation, the Department of Labor would administer 
a program similar to the Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) 
program, which currently provides Federal workers a proportion of lost 
wages, medical costs, rehabilitation, and training. My draft legislation 
also would compensate workers whose beryllium sensitivity forced them 
into lower-paying jobs. As with all workers' compensation systems, the 
program will serve as an ``exclusive remedy,'' barring individuals with 
work-related illness claims from bringing litigation against the Federal 
Government.
    Recognizing that other toxic and radioactive materials also may 
contribute to occupational illnesses, I direct you to participate in an 
interagency review led by the National Economic Council focusing on 
whether there are other illnesses that warrant inclusion in this program 
and how this should be accomplished. This interagency review should be 
completed by March 31, 2000.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this memorandum.