Grassley Presses Leavitt to Support SEC Petition for Former Ames Lab Employees

GRASSLEY PRESSES LEAVITT TO SUPPORT SEC PETITION FOR FORMER AMES LAB EMPLOYEES

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley today encouraged Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt to quickly approve the Special Exposure Cohort petition filed on behalf of the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University.

Earlier today the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health recommended adding the class of workers at the Ames Laboratory to the Special Exposure Cohort. Inclusion in the Special Exposure Cohort allows eligible claimants to be compensated presumptively.

"Today's outcome is a clear indication that the Advisory Board believes that the patriotic Americans who worked at the Ames Lab deserve to be added to the Special Exposure Cohort. They served our nation during the Cold War and we have an obligation to honor their service," Grassley said.

Once Leavitt receives the petition from NIOSH, he will have 30 days to consider it and forward his recommendation to Congress. The Secretary's designation will take affect within 30 days unless Congress takes action to reverse or expedite the designation.

Here is Grassley's letter to Leavitt.

June 15, 2006

The Honorable Michael Leavitt
Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20201

Dear Secretary Leavitt,

I am writing to share my strong support for the Special Exposure Cohort petition filed on behalf of the employees at the Ames Laboratory on the Iowa State University Campus in Ames, Iowa, pursuant to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA). I strongly encourage you to support the recommendations of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health with regard to the Special Exposure Cohort petition filed on behalf of employees at the Ames Laboratory.

As you may know, in the Petition Evaluation Report, NIOSH determined that it is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy radiation doses for members of this class. NIOSH also determined that the health was endangered for those workers who were employed for an aggregate of 250 days within the definition of this class.

Today, the Advisory Board unanimously voted in favor of approval of a Special Exposure Cohort for workers at the Ames Laboratory from January 1, 1942 through December 31, 1954. The Advisory Board concluded that it was not feasible to estimate radiation doses with sufficient accuracy, and there is a reasonable likelihood that the class of workers at this facility may have been endangered from their exposure to radiation.

These workers served our nation during the Cold War, conducting research and producing materials critical to the production of our nation's nuclear armament. We have an obligation to honor that service by providing compensation to those who were made ill. Therefore, I encourage you to expeditiously consider the SEC Petition for employees at the Ames Laboratory, and affirm the findings of the petitioners, the NIOSH, and the Advisory Board, and approve the SEC designation.

Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator

cc: Dr. John Howard, Director, NIOSH

http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=5097&Month=6&Year=2006