44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO ENACT LEGISLATION TO REFORM THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT IN ORDER TO ENSURE FAIR AND JUST COMPENSATION TO ALL URANIUM WORKERS HARMED FROM WORK FOR THE UNITED STATES.

WHEREAS, uranium mining and milling activities undertaken from the 1940s through the early 1980s for the benefit of the United States government exposed uranium miners and millers in New Mexico to large doses of radiation and other environmental hazards that have since resulted in an unusually high incidence of lung cancers and other health problems among these uranium workers; and

WHEREAS, in 1990, the United States congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in order to ensure, among other things, partial restitution to uranium miners suffering from radiation-related diseases presumed to have been caused by their work in uranium mines that provided uranium for the benefit of the United States government; and

WHEREAS, since the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990, new and additional scientific information has become available to support the view that the criteria imposed upon qualifications for compensation for uranium miners under that act are too restrictive and burdensome, resulting in the unjust denial of compensation to individuals who have suffered injury as a result of their work in the mines; and

WHEREAS, further additional evidence supports the view that miners working in above-ground uranium mines and uranium millers should be provided compensation similar to that for underground uranium miners where such individuals have suffered injury and death as a result of their work in such mines and uranium mills; and

WHEREAS, in 1995, the president's advisory committee on human radiation experiments concluded that the federal government wronged the uranium miners by allowing them to be exposed to radiation hazards without having provided the men with then-available safety protections, and then by subsequently studying the effects of their exposure under false pretenses, without obtaining the informed consent of the miners and without disclosure of the true nature of the studies; and

WHEREAS, the compensation program under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has proven inadequate, unfair and unjust and is therefore in need of major reform in order to afford fair and just compensation for all uranium workers; and

WHEREAS, the Navajo nation council, the New Mexico uranium workers council and others have called for major reform of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in order to ensure fair and just compensation for all uranium workers;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress be requested to recognize that the individuals who worked in the uranium mines and mills of New Mexico and the southwest served the national security interests of our nation during a most critical time and that, as a result of their patriotic service, their lives and their health were sacrificed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States government recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to the uranium workers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress pass needed legislative reform of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in order to ensure fair and just compensation to all uranium workers who have been harmed as a result of working in uranium mines and uranium mills for the purpose and benefit of the United States government; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation.