WASHINGTON — Congress is one step away from finally providing money to pay off IOUs that the government has been sending for a year to downwind cancer victims of atomic tests.

The House approved such funding Friday as it passed a compromise version of the 2001 Supplemental Appropriations Bill. House and Senate negotiators worked out differences on their earlier versions of that bill on Thursday. Senate approval is expected next week.

An earlier Senate version called for $84 million in downwinder compensation this year, but a House version had included no money. The $84 million was included in the final version — but $64 million of it technically counts against next year's budget to avoid disturbing budget caps.

The House last week had killed on a 219-205 vote a Democratic motion to instruct its conferees to accept the Senate's proposal for that spending during negotiations.

House Republicans — including Reps. Jim Hansen and Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who voted against it — said that was just a "gimmick" by Democrats to tie the hands of Republican leaders in negotiations.

Westerners of both parties helped push for the funding. Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, helped add it to the Senate bill originally. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, joined in letters from Democrats to conferees seeking the money.

The original Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990 was pushed through Congress by Hatch and former Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah, to apologize to and pay downwinders and uranium miners. The government had falsely told them that radiation to which they had been exposed would not hurt them.

"Because of the funding shortfall, the Justice Department has found it necessary to inform more than 435 people whose RECA claims are approved that payments will be made only when funds become available," Matheson wrote to conferees, and noted that 3,200 additional claims are pending. "A number have died while waiting for their payments."

View Comments

Because of an error by the former Bill Clinton administration, it requested too little money in appropriations for last year to fully fund the program. The fund ran out of money more than a year ago, and has been sending successful applicants IOUs since then.

Shortfalls were made worse when Congress passed a Hatch bill to expand the types of cancer for which downwinders may be compensated and expanded areas where residents may be eligible — but did not appropriate more money for the new applicants.

Meanwhile, Hatch and Cannon are pushing separate legislation to make funding for the compensation fund automatic so that it will not need to compete for money each year in the appropriations process. That would avoid future IOUs.

This week, such automatic funding was endorsed by a key House appropriations subcommittee chairman, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.