I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5303 

To require the suspension of the use, sale, development, production, testing, 

and export of depleted uranium munitions pending the outcome of certain 

studies of the health effects of such munitions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2006 

Ms. MCKINNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy 

and Commerce and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the suspension of the use, sale, development, 

production, testing, and export of depleted uranium munitions pending the outcome of certain studies of the 

health effects of such munitions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Depleted Uranium Munitions Suspension and Study Act 

6 of 2006’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Purposes. 

Sec. 4. Suspension of use of depleted uranium munitions. 

Sec. 5. Suspension of sale and export of depleted uranium munitions. 

Sec. 6. Comptroller general investigation of plutonium contamination. 

Sec. 7. Study of health effects of depleted uranium. 

Sec. 8. Epa studies of environmental contamination by depleted uranium. 

Sec. 9. Environmental mitigation and cleanup requirements. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The highest regard should be given to the 

6 health and safety of the Nation’s military personnel. 

7 (2) Among the characteristics of depleted ura8 nium munitions are that (A) they are pyrophoric, re9 sulting in the munition burning upon impact with a 

10 target, and (B) the impact of a depleted uranium 

11 munition on a target creates aerosol particles, which 

12 can be inhaled. 

13 (3) Depleted uranium munitions were used by 

14 the United States in 1991 during the Persian Gulf 

15 War in Southwest Asia and during the conflicts in 

16 the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia, 

17 Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro) during the 1990s, 

18 with approximately 300 metric tons of depleted ura19 nium being used during the Gulf War, three metric 

20 tons being used in Bosnia, and over nine metric tons 

21 being used in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro. 


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1 (4) The United States has provided or sold de2 pleted uranium and depleted uranium munitions to 

3 allied nations, and the United Kingdom used de4 pleted uranium munitions during the Persian Gulf 

5 War. 

6 (5) Depleted uranium munitions have been used 

7 at numerous United States military installations, 

8 proving grounds, and testing facilities. 

9 (6) The Yugoslav and Iraqi Governments have 

10 claimed that depleted uranium is affecting the health 

11 of their people, although such claims have yet to be 

12 independently verified. 

13 (7) No definitive cause has been established for 

14 the various illnesses (commonly referred to as ‘‘Gulf 

15 War Syndrome’’) that currently affect approximately 

16 130,000 United States servicemembers and veterans 

17 who served in Southwest Asia during the Persian 

18 Gulf War. 

19 (8) The British Royal Navy, Canadian Navy, 

20 and United States Navy have all announced that 

21 they would phase out use of depleted uranium muni22 tions. 

23 (9) It has been reported that depleted uranium 

24 munitions use has proliferated to more than 20 na25 tions. 


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1 (10) Crash investigators of the Federal Aviation 

2 Administration are instructed, in FAA Advisory Cir3 cular 20–123, dated December 20, 1984, to ‘‘handle 

4 with caution’’ any depleted uranium that they en5 counter in crash investigations, and are instructed 

6 that ‘‘the main hazard associated with depleted ura7 nium is the harmful effect the material could have 

8 if it enters the body,’’ and that ‘‘[i]f particles are in9 haled or digested, they can be chemically toxic and 

10 cause a significant and long-lasting irradiation of in11 ternal tissues,’’. 

12 (11) The 1949 Geneva Convention specifically 

13 outlines the precautions warring nations must take 

14 to avoid harming civilian populations, and it would 

15 be a violation of the 1977 Protocol to that Conven16 tion to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suf17 fering to civilians, as depleted uranium has the po18 tential to cause. 

19 (12) The Department of Defense has acknowl20 edged that stocks of depleted uranium munitions 

21 have been contaminated with transuranic elements, 

22 including plutonium. 

23 (13) Plutonium is an extremely toxic, carcino24 genic, and radioactive material with a half-life of 4.5 

25 billion years. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are the following: 

3 (1) To eliminate health threats from depleted 

4 uranium munitions to— 

5 (A) United States military personnel and 

6 United States civilian employees; 

7 (B) military personnel and employees of 

8 member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty 

9 Organization; and 

10 (C) civilian populations in regions where 

11 such munitions were used (whether in conflict, 

12 training, or development) or produced. 

13 (2) To provide for studies of— 

14 (A) the level and scope of contamination of 

15 depleted uranium munitions by plutonium and 

16 other transuranic elements; 

17 (B) the health effects resulting from expo18 sure by inhalation, ingestion, or injection to de19 pleted uranium munitions; and 

20 (C) environmental contamination caused 

21 by depleted uranium at sites where depleted 

22 uranium was used in conflict, development, test23 ing, or training and at sites where depleted ura24 nium and depleted uranium munitions were 

25 produced. 


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1 (3) To require the Administrator of the Envi2 ronmental Protection Agency to issue regulations 

3 and requirements, based upon Environmental Pro4 tection Agency studies, concerning the cleanup and 

5 mitigation of depleted uranium contamination at 

6 sites of depleted uranium munition use and produc7 tion in the United States. 

8 SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM MU9 NITIONS. 

10 (a) SUSPENSION OF USE.—Effective no later than 90 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of Defense shall direct that all elements of the De13 partment of Defense suspend use of depleted uranium mu14 nitions. 

15 (b) DURATION.—(1) The suspension of use of de16 pleted uranium munitions required by subsection (a) shall 

17 remain in effect until the Secretary of Health and Human 

18 Services, based upon the results of the study under section 

19 7(a), certifies to the committees specified in paragraph (2) 

20 that use of depleted uranium munitions in future con21 flicts— 

22 (A) will not pose a likely long-term or residual 

23 threat to the health of United States or NATO mili24 tary personnel; and 


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1 (B) will not jeopardize the health of civilian 

2 populations in the area of such use. 

3 (2) The committees specified in this paragraph are 

4 the following: 

5 (A) The Committee on Armed Services and the 

6 Committee on Government Reform of the House of 

7 Representatives. 

8 (B) The Committee on Armed Services and the 

9 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

10 Affairs of the Senate. 

11 (c) FUTURE USE LIMITED TO STOCKS FREE OF

12 TRANSURANIC MATTER.—Upon a certification by the Sec13 retary of Health and Human Services described in sub14 section (b), the Secretary of Defense shall limit any subse15 quent use of depleted uranium munitions to stocks of such 

16 munitions that the Secretary certifies to be free of pluto17 nium and other transuranic matter. 

18 SEC. 5. SUSPENSION OF SALE AND EXPORT OF DEPLETED 

19 URANIUM MUNITIONS. 

20 (a) SUSPENSION OF SALE AND EXPORT.—Upon the 

21 enactment of this Act, all elements of the Government 

22 with responsibility for approving the foreign sale or export 

23 of munitions shall suspend the approval of the sale and 

24 export of munitions containing depleted uranium. 


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1 (b) DURATION.—The suspension required by sub2 section (a) of approval of the foreign sale and export of 

3 depleted uranium munitions shall remain in effect until 

4 the Secretary of Health and Human Services makes a cer5 tification described in section 4(b). 

6 (c) FUTURE EXPORTS TO BE LIMITED TO STOCKS

7 FREE OF TRANSURANIC MATTER.—Upon a certification 

8 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services described 

9 in section 4(b), any subsequent foreign sale or export of 

10 depleted uranium munitions or preproduction depleted 

11 uranium may be made only from stocks of such munitions 

12 or preproduction depleted uranium that the Secretary of 

13 Defense certifies to be free of plutonium and other trans14 uranic matter, excluding depleted uranium. 

15 SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL INVESTIGATION OF PLU16 TONIUM CONTAMINATION. 

17 (a) INVESTIGATION.—The Comptroller General of the 

18 United States shall conduct a full investigation into the 

19 contamination of stocks of depleted uranium munitions 

20 with transuranic elements, including plutonium, neptu21 nium, americium, and other forms of uranium. The inves22 tigation shall include— 

23 (1) determination of when such contamination 

24 occurred; 


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1 (2) identification of the manufacturing or refin2 ing facilities at which such contamination occurred; 

3 (3) identification of the quantity, by volume and 

4 percentage, of the material by which such contami5 nation occurred; 

6 (4) identification of when such contamination 

7 was first realized by Department of Defense per8 sonnel and when such contamination was brought to 

9 the attention of senior Department of Defense man10 agement; 

11 (5) identification of persons responsible for 

12 monitoring the quality of such production; 

13 (6) identification of the time when notification 

14 of such contamination was made to member nations 

15 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and 

16 (7) determination of whether any law or treaty 

17 was broken by any such contamination or by any 

18 failure to provide timely notice of such contamina19 tion to any affected party. 

20 (b) REPORT.—Upon completion of the investigation 

21 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall sub22 mit to the committeed specified in section 4(b)(2) a report 

23 on the investigation. 


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1 SEC. 7. STUDY OF HEALTH EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URA2 NIUM. 

3 (a) STUDY.—The Director of the Agency for Toxic 

4 Substances and Disease Registry and the Director of the 

5 Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall jointly 

6 conduct a comprehensive study of the health effects of ex7 posure to depleted uranium munitions on uranium-exposed 

8 veterans and on their children who were born after their 

9 respective exposures to uranium. 

10 (b) URANIUM-EXPOSED VETERANS.—For purposes 

11 of this section, the term ‘‘uranium-exposed veteran’’ 

12 means a member or former member of the Armed Forces 

13 who while on active duty handled, came in contact with, 

14 or had the likelihood of contact with depleted uranium mu15 nitions, including members and former members who while 

16 on active duty— 

17 (1) were exposed to smoke from fires resulting 

18 from the burning of vehicles uploaded with depleted 

19 uranium munitions or fires at depots at which de20 pleted uranium was stored; 

21 (2) worked within environments containing de22 pleted uranium dust or residues from depleted ura23 nium fires; 

24 (3) were within a structure or vehicle while it 

25 was struck by a depleted uranium munition; 


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1 (4) climbed on or entered equipment or struc2 tures struck by depleted uranium; or 

3 (5) were medical personnel who provided near4 term treatment to members of the Armed Forces de5 scribed in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4). 

6 (c) PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT.—The Director of 

7 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

8 shall conduct a public health assessment of persons who 

9 are thought to have an epidemiological link to any United 

10 States military installation or facility at which depleted 

11 uranium munitions have been or currently are used or any 

12 production facility at which depleted uranium or depleted 

13 uranium munitions are currently, or have been, produced. 

14 (d) REPORT.—The Directors shall submit to Con15 gress a report on the results of the study under subsection 

16 (a) and the assessment under subsection (c). The report 

17 shall be submitted not later than two years after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act and shall include the findings 

19 of the Directors on the matters covered by the report. The 

20 Directors shall include in the report a list of diseases or 

21 conditions that are found to exist within the populations 

22 specified in subsection (a) and their rate of occurrence 

23 compared to the general population. 


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1 SEC. 8. EPA STUDIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINA2 TION BY DEPLETED URANIUM. 

3 (a) LIST OF LOCATIONS IN UNITED STATES.—Not 

4 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Ad6 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency a list 

7 of all sites in the United States where depleted uranium 

8 munitions have been used or produced and a site-specific 

9 map of each such site. 

10 (b) EPA STUDIES.—After receipt of the list and 

11 maps under subsection (a), the Administrator shall, for 

12 each site specified on the list, conduct a comprehensive 

13 environmental study of the possible contamination of the 

14 soil, air, water, and vegetation by depleted uranium at 

15 that site. 

16 (c) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the En18 vironmental Protection Agency shall submit to the Sec19 retary of Defense and the Committee on Armed Services 

20 and the Committee on Government Reform of the House 

21 of Representatives and the Committee on Armed Services 

22 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern23 mental Affairs of the Senate a report— 

24 (1) describing the extent of contamination by 

25 depleted uranium at each site studied by the Admin26 istrator pursuant to subsection (b); 


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1 (2) providing site-specific recommendations for 

2 the mitigation and cleanup of each such site; and 

3 (3) providing general recommendations regard4 ing the cleanup of sites where depleted uranium has 

5 been used on foreign lands. 

6 SEC. 9. ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION AND CLEANUP RE7 QUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CLEANUP PLAN.— 

9 Not later than one year after receiving the report under 

10 section 8(c), the Secretary of Defense shall develop a plan 

11 for mitigation and cleanup at each site and a prioritized 

12 list for such cleanups. The Secretary shall submit a copy 

13 of the plan to the Committee on Armed Services and the 

14 Committee on Government Reform of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committee on Armed Services and 

16 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

17 Affairs of the Senate. 

18 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a report to 

19 those committees and the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency each year before commencement 

21 of the mitigations and cleanups until those projects are 

22 complete. 

23 (c) CLEANUP.—After filing of such plans, the Sec24 retary shall commence, or contract for, the mitigation and 

25 cleanup of each site for which the Administrator of the 


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1 Environmental Protection Agency has recommended such 

2 mitigation and cleanup and in the manner and scope that 

3 the Administrator’s report specifies. 

4 (d) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of law, the cleanup and mitigation re6 quired by subsection (c) shall be carried out in a manner 

7 consistent with the provisions of the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969, without regard to any exemp9 tion to any of the provisions of that Act for the Depart10 ment of Defense or any element thereof. 

Æ 


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