RECOGNIZING NUCLEAR WORKERS

RECOGNIZING NUCLEAR WORKERS
30 October 2009
US Fed News
Copyright 2009. HT Media Limited. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 -- Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn. (3rd CD), issued the following news release:
The Nuclear Worker Day of Remembrance Resolution, designating October 30, 2009, to be a national day of remembrance passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Congressman Zach Wamp cosponsored the legislation to honor the thousands of men and women who supported the nation's nuclear efforts during the Cold War.
"Many of our citizens have been called upon to serve our country in tanks, airplanes, ships and submarines. Others were in plants and factories serving our country in a different venue, but one that was just as patriotic and sacrificial," said Congressman Wamp. "On October 30, people will come together across the country to remember and honor all those who worked to create the deterrent that made the world safer."
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has played a critical role in the defense of our country from the Manhattan Project forward. From 1942, almost three-quarters of a million people have worked in the nuclear industry. Thousands of those workers became ill as a result of exposure to toxic substances or chemicals during their work at a Department of Energy facility.

Congressman Wamp was an author of the original Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA), commonly known as the "sick worker" legislation, which passed in 2000 to provide compensation to many of these nuclear workers.
"It is a labor of love to work in a bipartisan way in Congress to have this official day of recognition and remembrance for all of the workers past, present and future. We are still cleaning up the Cold War legacy, and that is an important investment as well for our country to make," Congressman Wamp said.
The U.S. Senate passed legislation for an official day of nuclear worker recognition and remembrance sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jim Bunning and Lamar Alexander in May 2009.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar,Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Laura Condeluci, 202/225-3271.
Document INDFED0020091030e5au0020q