Guantanamo Bay

Floor Speech

GUANTANAMO BAY -- (Senate - July 16, 2007)

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By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. BOXER):

S. 1820. A bill to better provide for compensation for certain persons injured in the course of employment at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation to enable hundreds of former Santa Susana Field Laboratory workers or their survivors
to receive compensation for illnesses caused by exposure to radiation and other toxic substances.

These benefits have long been denied them due to flaws in the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Act of 2000.

This bill fulfills the intent of Congress when it approved the act, providing compensation and care for nuclear program workers who suffered severe health problems caused by on-the-job exposure to radiation.

Specifically, this bill will provide a special status designation, under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act, to Santa Susana Field Laboratory employees, so they can receive the benefits they deserve.

The bill would extend the ``special exposure cohort'' status to Department of Energy employees, Department of Energy contract employees, or atomic weapons employees who worked at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory for at least 250 days prior to January 1, 2006.

This revision will provide the act's benefits to any of those workers who contracted a radiation-linked cancer due to their employment at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Workers at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory played a significant role in keeping our Nation secure during the Cold War. They helped develop our nuclear weapons program, a cornerstone of our national defense.

Sadly, many workers of this era were exposed to radiation on a regular basis. But the records are incomplete and inaccurate. Some records show only estimated levels of exposure for workers, and are imprecise. In other cases, if there were records kept, they can't be found today.

Many Santa Susana Field Laboratory workers were not aware of the hazards at their workplace. Remarkably, no preventative equipment like respirators, gloves, or body suits were provided to workers.

More than 600 claims for compensation have been filed by Santa Susana Field Lab workers. Mr. President, 90 percent of those have been denied due to lack of documentation, or inability to prove exposure thresholds.

Santa Susana Field Lab workers and their families now face the burden of having to reconstruct exposure scenarios that existed more than 40 years ago, in most cases with no documentation.

The case of my constituent, Betty Reo, provides a stunning example of why this legislation is necessary.

Ms. Reo's husband, Cosmo Reo, worked at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory as an instrumentation mechanic from April 18, 1957, until May 17, 1960. Cosmo worked in the rocket testing pits and was exposed to hydrazine, trichlorethylene and other cancer-causing chemicals which attack the lungs, bladder and kidneys.

Cosmo died of renal failure in 1980. Ms. Reo applied for benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Act. She has been trying to reconstruct the exposure scenarios under which her husband worked, but without adequate documentation, which is virtually nonexistent, she has repeatedly been denied benefits.

This bill would help people like Betty Reo.

I urge my colleagues to join me in correcting these injustices and cutting through the ``red tape'' that prevents Santa Susana Field Laboratory workers, and their families, from receiving fair compensation.

For many, such as Ms. Reo, time is running out. We can no longer afford to delay, and this bill provides a straightforward solution to fix a broken system.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

S. 1820

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