Lawmakers look for a quick path to a vote

Katherine Rizzo

Wednesday, May 10, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers from states with weapons plants introduced a proposal Tuesday to offer at least $200,000 apiece to cancer-stricken bomb factory workers, double the Clinton administration's request.

"People's health has been compromised and lives have been lost," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, lead sponsor of the legislation. "It is not only a responsibility of this government to provide for these individuals, it is a moral obligation."

A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., and Ted Strickland, D-Ohio.

Another strategy to ensure compensation - putting it into a high-priority defense bill - faltered Tuesday. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., withdrew his proposal after Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., expressed opposition. Warner was concerned about the bill's failure to specify where the estimated $100 million a year for payouts would be found.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., offered a variation of the same proposal during a meeting of a House Armed Services subcommittee. But he withdrew it, saying he didn't want the issue to bog down a vital military authorization bill.

"This amendment would force the bill into an automatic referral to four separate committees," he explained, adding that he intends to work with committee leaders to craft the proposal in a way that has a chance of passage on the House floor.

"We want to take care of the Cold Warriors," agreed Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the Military Procurement Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over some Energy Department programs. "Why don't we sit down to see what we can do to put together a responsible package."

Both Gibbons and a spokesman for Bingaman said the military bill - considered a must-pass piece of legislation in a year with an election-shortened work schedule - is still their desired vehicle for moving the sick worker payments toward a vote.

"We're going to offer it on the floor," said Bingaman spokesman Jim Bonham.

"A lot of people are starting to work on what we do next," said Richard Miller of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. "We have to come up with a funding mechanism."

He said the union preferred the Voinovich-Whitfield bill anyway, since it "took (Energy Secretary) Bill Richardson's rhetoric and put it into legislation," specifying clearly that the burden of proof on worker exposure would be on the government any time there is a problem finding adequate data.

Compensating people sickened by their work on the radioactive components of nuclear bombs is an idea with broad support in both parties. The hitch, however, is money, and a general unwillingness to create more mandatory federal spending.

"I would argue that there are some things that are appropriately made entitlements," Strickland said. "We're talking about people who have lost their lives or are in life-threatening situations due to the actions of this government."

As long as the Energy Department and its contractors continue to pay attention to safety and take strong steps to avoid exposing workers to life-threatening levels of contamination, the number of people qualifying for payments will be limited, he said. "This is not like an open-ended national entitlement program," Strickland said.

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