Congress of the Cited States ‘Washington, BC 20815 February 18, 2009 “The Honorable John Conyers, ‘The Honorable Lamar Smith Chaisman Ranking Member House Commitice on the Judiciary House Committee on the Judiciary 2138 Rayburn House Office Building B351 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 ‘Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Sint We are writing to once again respectfully request that the House Judiciary Committee conduct a hearing on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), its amendments of July 2000, and the possibility of expanding RECA to covet individuals exposed to radioactive fallout but not currently covered by the program. ‘As you know, over the course of more than two decades, the United States carsied out moce than 1000 nuclear weapons tests. ‘The radioactive debris from these tests entered our nation’s atmosphere and was later deposited, inthe form of sadiouetive fallout, all aczoss our nation a8 can be seen in the accompanying Todine- 131 map produced by the National Cancer Institute For decades, individuals living within the fallout areas have lived with adverse health effects caused by radiation exposure, ‘Today, several claimant eategoties exist which allow individuals meeting certain criteria to apply for compensation ranging, from $50,000 to $75,000 per individual, depending on theie category Bligibility for compensation, however, is limited to certain counties in just a few states. ‘These geographical boundaties ate, quite frankly, arbitrary boundaties that do not account for the fact that radioactive fallout does not abide by lines on map. Some of the counties experiencing the largest concenteation of fillout in the entire nation are not included in the current RECA program — including areas in our home states of Idaho and Utah, We believe additional areas should be included in the program, in addition to maintaining current cligibility. The National Research Council released an exhaustive review of the science behind the RECA program in 2005 which may also be of interest to the Committee, as it looks forward, In 2000, Congress chose to enhance the RECA program by adding additional categories of compensable nesses. However, we believe that since RECA has not received serious review by the Congress in the past seven years, now is an appropriate time for the Judiciary Commnittee to hold an oversight hearing on this important federal law. ‘Thank you for taking time to consider our request and please Feel free to contact us shoul you have any questions. We stand ready to work with you, and your staff, in crafting the scope of any potential hearing and gathering list of potential witnesses. Mb name TLY Mike Sifopson (jlo Matheson Walt Minnick Member of Congsess Cems oF Congress Member of Congsess(Counties) Dose in rods a