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Show AtIis iBSpOrt by Senator Orrin Hatch Compensation a must The government has a moral obligation obliga-tion to compensate people like Doran Fox, who suffered from the radioactive fallout that accompanied the military's atomic testing near Southern Utah in the 1950's and 1960's. That belief was strengthened by a recent re-cent hearing held to examine new features of a bill I re-introduced this year to compensate fallout victims. Four earlier hearings were held on the issue in St. George, Salt Lake, Las Vegas and Washington in 1979 and 1980. The bill is co-sponsored by 16 other senators including Jake Garn, Ted Kennedy Ken-nedy and Nevada's Paul Laxalt. It differs dif-fers from a similar bill I introduced in 1979 by allowing the government to contest con-test its liability for damages caused by the atomic tests. However, the burden of proof, or the responsibility to prove that it is not at fault, rests with the government. The new bill also limits the amount of damages a victim can claim. Six panels were heard at the hearing, including people with experience on all sides of the issue. The first two panels represented the Reagan Administration, Administra-tion, specifically the Commission on Low-Level Radiation and the Department Depart-ment of Defense. A third panel consisted con-sisted of scientific and medical researchers resear-chers who have studied radiation-related radiation-related illnesses, including Dr. Joseph Lyons and McDonald E. Wrenn from the University of Utah. Two other witnesses represented those who lived in affected areas during the atomic tests: noted Arizona lawyer Stewart Udall, who represents many of the victims in suits against the government, govern-ment, and Janet Gordon of Cedar City, a member of Citizens Call, an organization organiza-tion of citizens affected by radiation. When I first introduced a bill to compensate com-pensate victims of atomic fallout, many of my congressional colleagues were concerned that such a measure would turn into a raid on the federal treasury. The new version of my bill while still providing just compensation for fallout victims is designed to overcome those concerns, and thus stand a better chance of passing through Congressalthough Con-gressalthough it certainly won't be easy, especially considering the Administration's Ad-ministration's initial opposition to the measure. The bill will still recoup the losses of people like Doran Fox, who moved from Las Vegas fo Provo to get better care for a child with leukemia. "We gave a business away in Las Vegas to move to Provo," he said, "which is what you do to try to hang on to the life of anyone." Still, that child and three others died of cancer related diseases between 1951 and 1959. Two other children, born in 1949 and 1959 are still alive. "We put our life on the line when we fought in the military service," he continued, con-tinued, describing his stint on Okinawa during World War II. "But at least we knew what we were doing." Back home, after seeing himself, his wife and four children stricken with cancer the only ones in his or his wife's families to contract the disease he found that the government apparently didn't know what it was doing. The military didn't tell people to stay indoors when it tested its new atomic bombs. People didn't know they should take any safety precautions. I don't think people like Doran Fox should pay for what he And his family suffered because of that. I think the government should. |