I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2463
To provide for payments to individuals who were the subjects of radiation
experiments conducted by the Federal Government.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 11, 1995
Mr. FROST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for payments to individuals who were the subjects
of radiation experiments conducted by the Federal Gov-
ernment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radiation Experimen-
tation Compensation Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND APOLOGY.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) since the 1940’s, the Federal Government
has intentionally conducted secret radiation experi-
ments in the United States without the informed
consent or knowledge of the individuals on whom the
experiments were performed;
(2) such radiation experiments included eight-
een subjects of plutonium injection experiments, the
subject of a zirconium injection experiment, and sev-
eral subjects of total body irradiation experiments
conducted during World War II;
(3) the Federal Government performed such ex-
periments not in order to achieve medical or health
benefits for the individuals used in the tests, but for
research purposes, to allow Federal Government sci-
entists and health specialists to study the effects of
radiation on the human body;
(4) at the time of such experiments and in the
years following the experiments, the Federal Govern-
ment failed to inform the individuals tested, or their
families, about the nature and effects of the tests;
(5) the Federal Government has harmed the
subjects of such radiation experiments;
(6) the Congress presumes that the exposure to
radiation of the subjects of such experiments has
generated an excess of cancers and other debilitating
diseases and health problems for such subjects;
(7) the Federal Government should recognize
that the lives and health of the innocent individuals
who were the subjects of such experiments were put
at risk by the individuals’ unknowing and involun-
tary participation in radiation experiments; and
(8) the Federal Government should assume re-
sponsibility for the harm caused by its actions re-
garding the experiments.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab-
lish a procedure to make partial restitution to the individ-
uals described in subsection (a) for the burdens they have
borne for the Nation as a whole, although monetary com-
pensation can never fully compensate them.
(c) APOLOGY.—The Congress apologizes on behalf of
the Nation to the individuals described in subsection (a)
and their families for the hardships they have endured be-
cause of the experiments described in subsection (a).
SEC. 3. TRUST FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the
Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known
as the ‘‘Radiation Experimentation Compensation Trust
Fund’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’), which shall
be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(b) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Amounts
in the Fund shall be invested in accordance with section
9702 of title 31, United States Code, and any interest on,
and proceeds from, any such investment shall be credited
to and become a part of the Fund.
(c) AVAILABILITY OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund
shall be available only for disbursement by the Attorney
General under section 5.
(d) TERMINATION.—
(1) TIME OF TERMINATION.—The Fund shall
terminate not later than the earlier of—
(A) the date on which the amount author-
ized to be appropriated to the Fund by sub-
section (e), and any income earned on such
amount, have been expended from the Fund; or
(B) 22 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(2) AMOUNTS
REMAINING
IN
FUND.—At the
end of the 22-year period referred to in paragraph
(1)(B), if all of the amounts in the Fund have not
been expended, investments of amounts in the Fund
shall be liquidated, the receipts of such liquidation
shall be deposited in the Fund, and all funds re-
maining in the Fund shall be deposited in the mis-
cellaneous receipts account in the Treasury.
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund $2,500,000.
Any amount appropriated pursuant to this subsection is
authorized to remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. CLAIMS ELIGIBLE FOR PAYMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual who, without the
individual’s informed consent, was intentionally injected
with plutonium or zirconium, or exposed to total body ra-
diation, as a subject in an experiment of the Federal Gov-
ernment at any time during the period beginning on Janu-
ary 1, 1940, and ending on December 31, 1974, shall re-
ceive $50,000 if—
(1) a claim for such payment is filed with the
Attorney General by or on behalf of such individual;
and
(2) the Attorney General determines, in accord-
ance with section 5(b), that the claim meets the re-
quirements of this Act.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘experiment’’ means a test or
other action that is conducted primarily for research
purposes to determine the effect of exposure to radi-
ation on the human body.
(2) The term ‘‘Federal Government’’ means—
(A) the legislative, judicial, or executive
branch of the government of the United States,
or any agency or instrumentality of such a
branch;
(B) any person or entity whose actions re-
garding an experiment under which humans
were injected with plutonium or zirconium, or
exposed to total body radiation, were funded in
any manner, approved, authorized, supervised,
or contracted for, by an entity referred to in
subparagraph (A); or
(C) any person or entity that was funded
in any manner, approved, authorized, super-
vised, or contracted with, wholly or partially, by
an entity referred to in subparagraph (A) dur-
ing a time period in which an entity referred to
in subparagraph (A) had knowledge that such
person or entity was conducting any experiment
under which humans were injected with pluto-
nium or zirconium, or exposed to total body ra-
diation.
(3) The term ‘‘informed consent’’ means con-
sent by an individual (or the individual’s parent or
legal guardian, in the case of an individual who was
a minor or was incompetent at the relevant time), to
the individual’s participation in an experiment, after
a full disclosure of the nature and purpose of the ex-
periment and its possible consequences that was suf-
ficient to allow the individual (or the individual’s
parent or legal guardian, in the case of an individual
who was a minor or was incompetent at the relevant
time) to intelligently exercise judgment to decide
whether the individual should participate in the ex-
periment.
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FILING PROCEDURES.—The
Attorney General shall establish procedures under which
individuals may submit claims for payments under this
Act.
(b) DETERMINATION OF CLAIMS.—For each claim
filed under this Act, the Attorney General shall determine
whether the claim meets the requirements of section 4(a).
(c) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall
pay, from amounts available in the Fund, each claim
that the Attorney General determines meets the re-
quirements of this Act.
(2) OFFSET OF PAYMENT.—
(A) OFFSET OF PAYMENT MADE UNDER
THIS ACT.—A payment under this Act to or on
behalf of an individual described in section 4(a)
shall be offset by the amount of any payment
made to or on behalf of the individual pursuant
to a final award or settlement on a claim (other
than a claim for worker’s compensation)
against any person, that is based on the individ-
ual’s participation in an experiment that is the
basis for the payment under this Act, including
any payment under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210 note).
(B) OFFSET OF PAYMENT MADE UNDER
RADIATION
EXPOSURE
COMPENSATION
ACT.—
For purposes of section 6(c)(2) of the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act (42 U.S.C. 2210
note), a payment made under this Act shall be
considered to be a final award or settlement on
a claim described in subparagraphs (A) and (B)
of such section.
(3) RIGHT OF SUBROGATION.—Upon payment
of a claim under this section, the Federal Govern-
ment is subrogated, for the amount of the payment,
to any right or claim that the individual to whom
the payment was made may have against any person
on account of participation in an experiment that is
the basis for the payment made under this Act.
(4) PAYMENTS
IN
CASE
OF
DECEASED
PER-
SONS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi-
vidual who is deceased at the time of payment
under this section, such payment may be made
only as follows:
(i) If the individual is survived by a
spouse who is living at the time of pay-
ment, such payment shall be made to such
surviving spouse.
(ii) If the individual is not survived by
a spouse described in clause (i), such pay-
ment shall be made in equal shares to the
children of the individual who are living at
the time of payment.
(iii) If the individual is not survived
by a person described in clause (i) or (ii),
such payment shall be made in equal
shares to the parents of the individual who
are living at the time of payment.
(iv) If the individual is not survived
by a person described in any of clauses (i)
through (iii), such payment shall be made
in equal shares to the grandchildren of the
individual who are living at the time of
payment.