44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

SUPPORTING PASSAGE OF SENATE BILL 1515 IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS, WHICH SEEKS 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 both underground and above-ground uranium miners and uranium millers to large doses of radiation and other hazards that have resulted in an unusually high incidence of lung cancer and other health problems among these uranium workers; and

WHEREAS, during this four-decade period, Grants, New Mexico, was considered the uranium capital of the world, which means that New Mexico has a larger than normal concentration of exposed uranium workers; and

WHEREAS, in 1990, the United States congress passed, and the president signed, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to ensure, among other things, partial restitution to uranium miners for radiation-related diseases presumed to have been caused by their work for the United States government; and

WHEREAS, additional scientific evidence now requires that the act be broadened to cover not just underground miners, but all uranium miners and millers, and to provide less restrictive criteria for qualifications for compensation; and

WHEREAS, passage of Senate Bill 1515 now before congress will have a tremendous effect on former uranium workers and their families in Grants and western New Mexico;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it support the passage of Senate Bill 1515 now before congress, without additional amendments that would slow its passage; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico congressional delegation be encouraged to actively support passage of the bill to help New Mexico citizens; and

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