|
|
U.S. Senator
Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
|
|
|
||
|
For Immediate
Release March 1, 2007 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm.
Director |
|
|
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, United States Senator Ken Salazar reintroduced his proposal to aid Colorado’s cold war veterans who worked at Rocky Flats. The proposal seeks to extend Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) status under the Energy Employees Occupational Injury Compensation Act (EEOICPA) to workers employed by the Department of Energy or its contractors at Rocky Flats, in order to help workers who became sick due to working with hazardous materials during the Cold War. “Across five decades, the patriotic men and women of Rocky Flats served their country producing plutonium, one of the most dangerous substances in the world, and crafting it into the triggers for America's nuclear arsenal,” said Senator Salazar. “Washington owes them an enormous debt of gratitude. But instead, it has shown them the back of its hand.” Currently, many Rocky Flats workers made ill from exposure to radioactive elements and other toxic compounds at the worksite are unable to receive the benefits that Congress intended for them, victims of a combination of inadequate or missing records and bureaucratic red tape. Rocky Flats workers have spent the last two years seeking a SEC designation through the intense and complicated administrative process. By codifying the Rocky Flats SEC designation, as Congress has provided to others, workers will at long last be able to receive benefits if they suffer from one of the 22 specified cancers known to be linked to their radiation exposure. “Washington’s foot-dragging, obstruction, and neglect of these Americans, who took real risks for our country during the Cold War and who are suffering now, is unacceptable,” said Senator Salazar. “They need and deserve help. The time to act is now.” Senator Salazar’s proposal is a continuation of his efforts on behalf of Rocky Flats workers. During his first 100 days as a Senator, Salazar introduced identical legislation. He has fought to prevent the Administration from reducing payments to sick workers, and has even exercised his unique authority as a United States Senator, placing a hold upon a nominee for Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Labor to gain the Administration’s attention on the issue and seek a more fair composition of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. Senator Salazar’s bill is the Senate companion to HR 904, the House Rocky Flats SEC bill introduced earlier this year by Congressman Mark Udall (D-CO) and is co-sponsored by Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO). # # #
|
||
