Editorial: Congress once again adds insult to injury

Wednesday, March 28, 2001 | 9:08 a.m.

It is unconscionable that the federal government has let funding go dry for a program that compensates former uranium miners for illnesses they may have developed decades ago for their work on behalf of U.S. nuclear weapons programs. The Justice Department-run program also provides assistance for those people who developed illnesses from radioactive fallout because they lived downwind from nuclear test sites in Nevada. But as the New York Times reported Tuesday, Congress last year never debated the Justice Department's request for more money. This means that claims from hundreds have been halted, with many applicants having received IOU letters from the Justice Department.

"It's been a bureaucratic travesty," says Rep. Scott McGinnis, R-Colo., who is seeking $84 million to fund the program again. Congress also shouldn't forget that it was the federal government's own carelessness regarding safety in its uranium mining and atomic testing program that allowed these people to become seriously ill in the first place. Not only should Congress quickly restore this money, but it also should revamp the way it funds this program. Currently Congress must debate every year how much money to set aside. Congress instead should make this a permanent fund, ensuring that embarrassments such as this never occur again.