Nuclear aid reform plan unveiled

Perlmutter, Udall say fixes in best interest of nation

By Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 31, 2008 at 4:37 p.m.

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The U.S. can afford to take care of sick nuclear weapons workers, two Colorado congressmen said Thursday, after asking the investigative arm of Congress to determine what's wrong with the program meant to compensate them.

If the country fails the sick and dying workers who built the nation's nuclear bombs, that could impact the next generation of Americans asked to sacrifice for their country, said Rep. Ed Perlmutter, of Golden, and Rep. Mark Udall, of Eldorado Springs, both Democrats.

"One, it's wrong because we aren't taking care of the people who put their lives on the line, and two, it has the consequence of discouraging people from stepping up to the plate to help this country," Perlmutter said.

Perlmutter and Udall also unveiled their version of the Compensation and Respect for Energy Workers Act, or CARE Act, to reform the Energy Employees Occupational Illness and Compensation Program.

The legislation would make it easier for claimants to prove they qualify for aid. The congressmen did not know how much the legislation would cost taxpayers.

"We can afford it," Udall said. "If we can afford two-and-a-half billion dollars a week in Iraq, if we can afford big tax breaks to the oil industry, certainly we can afford to take care of the people who put themselves on the line for us."

Both lawmakers said it would be difficult to get any legislation passed this year, given the August break and the election cycle, but they said they expected little opposition to the reform.

"People want to see these cold warriors of ours compensated," Udall said.

More than half a million Americans helped build the nation's nuclear arsenal for World War II and the Cold War at more than 300 sites nationwide, including the former Rocky Flats site near Denver. Today, more than 165,000 sick workers or their survivors have filed for compensation created for them by Congress in 2000. Only one in four has been compensated.

The presidential order enacting the program said it was to be "compassionate, fair and timely" and that the government should help claimants to "ensure that this program minimizes the administrative burden on workers and their survivors."

Last week, the Rocky Mountain News published a three- part series called "Deadly denial," detailing how federal agencies in charge of the program had taken actions that made it more difficult for claimants to prove they deserved compensation. The newspaper also documented instances in which the agencies had circumvented or ignored the law.

For example, Congress set a lower bar for proving toxic substances caused cancer than it did for proving a link to radiation. But the U.S. Department of Labor, which administers the program, uses the higher bar for both.

Also, Congress set a timeline for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to consider petitions for streamlined aid. But that department found a way around the timeline by not counting any time spent "revising' the petition for "deficiencies" it identifies.

Thursday, Udall and Perlmutter asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the overall implementation of the law.

"My biggest focus is to get the GAO to really look closely at how this program has been conducted because it just stinks," Perlmutter said.

Officials for both the Labor Department and HHS have said they are following the law.

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