0001|                          SENATE MEMORIAL 6
    |
0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
    |
0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
    |
0004|                          ROMAN M. MAES III
    |
0005|     
    |
0006|                                   
    |
0007|     
    |
0008|     
    |
0009|     
    |
0010|                              A MEMORIAL
    |
0011|     REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO ENACT LEGISLATION TO
    |
0012|     REFORM THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION ACT IN ORDER TO
    |
0013|     ENSURE FAIR AND JUST COMPENSATION TO ALL URANIUM WORKERS
    |
0014|     HARMED FROM WORK FOR THE UNITED STATES.
    |
0015|     
    |
0016|          WHEREAS, uranium mining and milling activities undertaken
    |
0017|     from the 1940s through the early 1980s for the benefit of the
    |
0018|     United States government exposed uranium miners and millers in
    |
0019|     New Mexico to large doses of radiation and other environmental
    |
0020|     hazards that have since resulted in an unusually high
    |
0021|     incidence of lung cancers and other health problems among
    |
0022|     these uranium workers; and
    |
0023|          WHEREAS, in 1990, the United States congress passed the
    |
0024|     Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in order to ensure, among
    |
0025|     other things, partial restitution to uranium miners suffering
    |
<center>- 1 -</center>

0001|     from radiation-related diseases presumed to have been caused
    |
0002|     by their work in uranium mines that provided uranium for the
    |
0003|     benefit of the United States government; and
    |
0004|          WHEREAS, since the passage of the Radiation Exposure
    |
0005|     Compensation Act in 1990, new and additional scientific
    |
0006|     information has become available to support the view that the
    |
0007|     criteria imposed upon qualifications for compensation for
    |
0008|     uranium miners under that act are too restrictive and
    |
0009|     burdensome, resulting in the unjust denial of compensation to
    |
0010|     individuals who have suffered injury as a result of their work
    |
0011|     in the mines; and
    |
0012|          WHEREAS, further additional evidence supports the view
    |
0013|     that miners working in above-ground uranium mines, and uranium
    |
0014|     millers, should be provided compensation similar to that for
    |
0015|     underground uranium miners where such individuals have
    |
0016|     suffered injury and death as a result of their work in such
    |
0017|     mines and uranium mills; and
    |
0018|          WHEREAS, in 1995, the president's advisory committee on
    |
0019|     human radiation experiments concluded that the federal
    |
0020|     government wronged the uranium miners by allowing them to be
    |
0021|     exposed to radiation hazards without having provided the men
    |
0022|     with then-available safety protections, and then by
    |
0023|     subsequently studying the effects of their exposure under
    |
0024|     false pretenses, without obtaining the informed consent of the
    |
0025|     miners and without disclosure of the true nature of the
    |
<center>- 2 -</center>

0001|     studies; and
    |
0002|          WHEREAS, the compensation program under the Radiation
    |
0003|     Exposure Compensation Act has proven inadequate, unfair and
    |
0004|     unjust and is therefore in need of major reform in order to
    |
0005|     afford fair and just compensation for all uranium workers; and
    |
0006|          WHEREAS, the Navajo nation council, the New Mexico
    |
0007|     uranium workers council and others have called for major
    |
0008|     reform of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in order to
    |
0009|     ensure fair and just compensation for all uranium workers;
    |
0010|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE
    |
0011|     OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress be requested to
    |
0012|     recognize that the individuals who worked in the uranium mines
    |
0013|     and mills of New Mexico and the southwest served the national
    |
0014|     security interests of our nation during a most critical time
    |
0015|     and that, as a result of their patriotic service, their lives
    |
0016|     and their health were sacrificed; and
    |
0017|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States government
    |
0018|     recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to the
    |
0019|     uranium workers; and
    |
0020|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress pass needed
    |
0021|     legislative reform of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
    |
0022|     in order to ensure fair and just compensation to all uranium
    |
0023|     workers who have been harmed as a result of working in uranium
    |
0024|     mines and uranium mills for the purpose and benefit of the
    |
0025|     United States government; and
    |
<center>- 3 -</center>

0001|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
    |
0002|     transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation.
    |
0003|                              
    |