Pete Domenici: “I am very pleased that by adopting the budget resolution today, the United States Senate has endorsed the President's…”

“I am very pleased that by adopting the budget resolution today, the United States Senate has endorsed the President's recent proposal that would provide mandatory funding for the now-bankrupt Radiation Exposure Compensation trust fund. We passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990 to provide fair and swift compensation for those uranium miners, Federal workers, and downwinders who had contracted certain debilitating and too often deadly radiation-related illnesses. These individuals helped build our nation's nuclear arsenal and it is unconscionable that there is no funding to indemnify them for their sacrifice and suffering. Since last May, those who have had their claims approved are receiving only an IOU from the Justice Department. Today we have taken the first step in rectifying this injustice. The Bush proposal is within the defense function of the budget and would be a declining expenditure from about $100 million in 2002 to less than $5 million at the end of the decade. Total mandatory expenditures budgeted for this program is assumed to be $710 million over the next 10 years. In addition, to our positive actions today, I have introduced, along with Senator Hatch, legislation that would provide the appropriate funding for the Radiation Exposure Compensation trust fund.”