Coalition for a Healthy Environment
Knoxville, Tennessee
July 5, 2004

Dear Senator ,

Please accept our most sincere thanks for voting for SA 3438 on June 16,
2004. With this amendment, sponsored by Senators Bunning and Bingamon, we
are a step closer to bridging the gaps left in the Energy Employee
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.

The amendment addressing the EEOICPA that was passed in the House of
Representatives would only take the program a tiny fraction of the distance
we need to go.  It addressed the Department of Energy's additional requests
for funding and proposed paying physicians more to hopefully speed up
claims processing.  DOE has had 4 years while the sick workers and their
families have waited for 4 years to see whether this agency could perform.
Throwing good money after bad is not the answer.

Our members have first hand knowledge of the dismal state of DOE's
performance with Subtitle D of the EEOICPA.
- Case history documentation, compiled by DOE, which prefaces each
claimant's file, does not advocate for the worker as required by the law.
- Irrelevant facts and medical documentation that should be present are not
there.  This is information, which would be reviewed by the Physician
Panels. 
- There are numerous and ridiculous errors given the amount of time DOE has
had to assemble the cases.  In one case alone, there were errors of name,
social security number, birth date, AND GENDER! DOE had this file for
almost 4 years!
- DOE has had over 4 yrs with no time constraints on them and the
claimants are allowed only 30 days to review their files before going to
the physician panel.  This does allow them enough time to obtain additional
records or do a thorough review of the confusing files sent to them.

DOE's ineptitude and inability to administer this program with any accuracy
makes a mockery of the  $95,000,000 already spent and only 4 people have
been assisted in obtaining their state Worker Compensation claims.  We
question how many people have had their claims denied due to DOE's failure
to properly document the cases for the best interest of the worker. We
believe many of the claims should be reviewed. We would like to see a
Government Accounting Office audit on DOE's expenditures, as suggested by
Senator Grassley, particularly showing the overall cost per claim.

It would be a grave injustice to the sick workers and their families if
Congress were to allocate additional funding to DOE and allow the current
program to continue as is. The Senate's solution is the right one.  The DOL
is ready, willing, and able to accept transfer of Subtitle D. 

There is still an important hurdle left in this Congressional session: the
conference committee.  We are asking you to please insist that the
amendment, as approved by the Senate, be incorporated verbatim in the final
Defense Authorization Act.  This would honor a Congressional commitment
made 4 years ago to the workers.

Sincerely,


Janet Michel,  Secretary
865-966-5918