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MARCH 2, 2001

Republican Senators Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Pete Domenici (N.Mex) on Thursday introduced two bills aimed at compensating victims of uranium radiation, many of whom were miners from the Navajo Nation.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was intended to compensate those who had been exposed to uranium but it ran out of money last year. Domenici staffers said there were 266 claims filed in fiscal year 2000 but only about half were paid out.

The first bill would provide $84 million in emergency supplemental appropriations for claims which have already been approved for fiscal year 2000 but also those expected for fiscal year 2001. The second bill would turn the program into an entitlement, meaning it wouldn't be subject to budget limits or requests.

Domenici said entitlement will cost approximately $650 million over 10 years. The entitlement bill was named after the late Paul Hicks, the president of the New Mexico Uranium Miners Council whom Domenici said fought on behalf of miners of the Navajo Nation, Acoma Pueblo, and others in New Mexico and Colorado.

Get the Story:
Hatch Asks Government to Pay Radiation Claims (The Salt Lake Tribune 3/2)