Sam Gibbons: “The standards were set not by scientists, not by doctors who understand radioactive materials, but rather the…”

“The standards were set not by scientists, not by doctors who understand radioactive materials, but rather the Congressmen and women, sitting on the Committee on Commerce, established a bill with these radioactive standards in it. Let me tell my colleagues what the standard really talks about here. We are talking about 100 millirems. The standard is clearly far above any other standard established in the law today; that was clearly pointed out by my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts. Now, if you are a person standing one yard away from an unshielded 10-year-old nuclear rod assembly, you would get a lethal dose; that is, a deadly dose of radiation, 500 rems in less than 3 minutes, less than 3 minutes. A 30-second exposure at 100 rems, which is the proposed standard that they have established, a 30-second exposure at the same distance at 100 rems would significantly increase the risk of cancer or genetic damage. Mr. Chairman, we are talking about significant human risk, human life and the establishment of a new standard that was not set by scientific evaluation. It was set by the people on the Committee on Commerce. That is wrong. Vote for the Markey amendment.”