Statement on Signing the
Radiation-Exposed Veterans Compensation Act of 1988
I
have today approved H.R. 1811, the ``Radiation-Exposed Veterans Compensation
Act of 1988.'' The Act adjusts the law governing eligibility for disability
benefits for certain veterans due to the unique circumstances of their military
service in the early days of the atomic age.
The
adjustment applies in limited circumstances to three specific categories of
American veterans:
-- veterans who served with U.S. forces
occupying Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan during the period beginning on August 6,
1945, and ending on July 1, 1946;
-- veterans interned as prisoners of war in
Japan during World War II (or who served on active duty in Japan immediately
following such internment), if their internment resulted in an opportunity for
exposure to ionizing radiation comparable to that of veterans who served in the
forces occupying Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and
-- veterans who
participated on-site in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a
nuclear device.
The
adjustment applies only with respect to specified diseases -- primarily cancer
of various organs -- that manifest themselves within 40 years after the veteran
last participated in the military radiation-related activity or, in the case of
leukemia, 30 years after such participation. Thus, for veterans who served in
The
existing fair and equitable system for adjudication of veterans' claims for
disability benefits requires demonstration of a connection between a veteran's
disability and the veteran's military service. While this legislation bypasses
the requirement for demonstration of such a connection, it does so only in
specific, narrow circumstances for a truly unique group of veterans.
Enactment
of this legislation does not represent a judgment that service-related
radiation exposure of veterans covered by the Act in fact caused any disease,
nor does it represent endorsement of a principle of permitting veterans to
receive benefits funded through veterans programs which bear no relationship to
their former military service.
Instead,
the Act gives due recognition for the unusual service rendered by Americans who
participated in military activities involving exposure to radiation generated
by the detonation of atomic explosives. The Nation is grateful for their
special service, and enactment of H.R. 1811 makes clear the Nation's continuing
concern for their welfare.
Ronald
Reagan
The
White House,
Note: H.R. 1811,
approved May 20, was assigned Public Law No. 100 - 321.