House Votes to Compensate Victims of Nuclear Tests

Uranium miners and people who lived downwind from nuclear testing would get money and an apology from the government for the radiation sickness they now suffer, under a bill the House approved Tuesday.

“This bill is an apology to those people and their heirs on behalf of the government and the American people that they were subjected and sacrificed for the Cold War nuclear weapons,” said Rep. Wayne Owens (D-Utah), sponsor of the bill.

Known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, the measure was passed on a voice vote. President Bush opposes the bill, which is awaiting floor action in the Senate.

Those affected lived in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. Many are Navajo Indians.

The legislation stems in part from 10 years of work by Stewart Udall, former congressman and secretary of the Interior, who represented the uranium miners in a lawsuit against the government in 1979.

The courts ruled that the government was immune from prosecution because national security needs required a huge flow of uranium ore to make weapons that could be used against the Soviets.

The courts ruled similarly in the cases of the so-called “downwinders.” Udall said that, despite the rulings, some of the judges who handled the cases wrote opinions that counseled the plaintiffs to seek redress from Congress.

“Today, the House of Representatives restores our nation’s honor by holding the government responsible for Cold War abuses that have stained our collective consciences by causing death and injury to its own people,” Owens said. “The Cold War can’t be over until we have paid the debt to the civilian victims.”