Three Congressmen recently introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure former employees at certain nuclear Department of Energy sites receive the benefits and care they have earned.
Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) wrote the Nuclear Workers Health Advisory Board Act and the Nuclear Workers Compensation Act to help workers who spent their careers in the nuclear field. Some of those men and women now face significant medical difficulties as a result of the work.
“Many Cold War Patriots who have applied for health benefits have been met with red tape and bureaucratic delays rather than help,” Polis said. “Constituents in my district who worked at the Rocky Flats Plant have contracted multiple cancers and illnesses and are literally dying as they wait for their applications to be processed. The application review system is severely broken.”
Polis said the Nuclear Workers Health Advisory Board Act would establish an advisory board that would work to make sure atomic weapons program workers receive their medical benefits in a timely fashion. He said the Nuclear Workers Compensation Act would force the Department of Labor to be accountable if the compensation process is delayed.
“Too often workers and surviving family members at sites like the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant run into challenges when weaving through the federal government maze to claim benefits they deserve,” Whitfield said. “I am pleased to join Congressman Polis and Congressman Ed Perlmutter today to introduce this important legislation which will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of EEOICPA and, in turn, help ensure workers and their families receive just compensation in a timely manner.”
Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced similar legislation in the Senate.