The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT FAIRNESS ACT OF 2004” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E897 on May 18, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SPECIAL EXPOSURE COHORT FAIRNESS ACT OF 2004
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HON. TOM UDALL
of new mexico
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Special Exposure Cohort Fairness Act of 2004.
On October 30, 2000, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was enacted into law. The purpose of this law was to provide for timely, uniform, and adequate compensation of covered employees suffering from illnesses incurred as a result of their work at Department of Energy facilities. While this law's enactment was welcome and past due, serious flaws in the program have been apparent during the years since its passage, and delays in getting compensation to workers have been numerous.
The language in Subtitle B of the EEOICPA clearly states that where it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose of a class of workers, and if there is a reasonable likelihood that the radiation dose may have endangered the health of the members of the group, that class of workers may petition to be included in a Special Exposure Cohort. Special Exposure Cohort status provides an automatic presumption of causation for 22 radiation-related cancers. When the law was passed, Special Exposure Cohorts were designated by Congress at four facilities.
The men and women who were exposed to harmful doses of radiation while working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have waited years for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a rule designating the process for classes of workers to petition to be in a Special Exposure Cohort. As a result of this unfair delay, workers have been unable to file petitions to become members of a Cohort. Four years after the bill was passed in Congress, a Special Exposure Cohort rule was finally issued last night. But workers cannot wait any longer for their compensation--it is simply unfair to ask them to do so. Moreover, a report issued on May 5, 2004 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the CDC stated that some facilities are not consistently providing adequate responses to data requests for dose reconstruction. The report details the Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL) lack of full compliance. Data issued in the report shows that of the 548 dose reconstruction cases pending with LANL on January 15 of this year, 499 had been pending for over 150 days.
The bill I am introducing today is a step in the right direction to help many of my constituents who have suffered because of their having worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I continue to hear from constituents who were exposed to harmful doses of radiation and who are wondering why they have had to wait years to receive their compensation. Workers cannot wait any longer for a flawed bureaucratic process to start working.
My bill allows energy employees who were employed for at least 250 days between 1945 and 2000 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Area G, linear accelerator, or who were security guards or construction workers, to be considered as members of a Special Exposure Cohort. In addition, the bill will allow employees who worked anywhere at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and whose records have not been received by NIOSH from the Lab within 200 days of receipt, to qualify under the Special Cohort. It is worth noting that the enactment of the legislation would not preclude additional groups of workers in New Mexico from seeking to become part of the Special Exposure Cohort.
Subtitle B is unfortunately only one component of the original EEOICPA law that needs amending. There are many outstanding issues that I will continue to work on with my colleagues, including fixing physicians panels, speeding up dose reconstructions, and locating a willing payer for all meritorious claims. This bill represents just one step in the larger fight to ensure that energy workers get the compensation they deserve.
Since enactment of the EEOICPA in 2000, the New Mexico legislature has passed two House Joint Memorials calling for the creation of a Special Exposure Cohort for the facilities listed in this bill. Hearings have been conducted; reports have been issued. Meanwhile, many of the claimants in this program are so ill that they may never see the compensation check that they deserve--a small source of comfort for them and their families in return for the harmful exposures they suffered. It is time for action.
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