[ RadSafe ] State of Washington Passes DU Bill for National Guard

[Roger Helbig]

Here is part of the Washington State Senate report in which it describes the testimony and who testified for this bill .. note that there were no opponents so fact was not well represented at the hearings.  This is the third state to pass a similar bill, with the others being Connecticut and Louisiana.  There is a concerted effort to get all states to require un-needed testing for their National Guard.  This bill will cost the taxpayers of Washington money that they could better spend elsewhere and sets up a task force that could be heavily weighted towards the anti-DU crusaders' input.

SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 6732
As Reported By Senate Committee On:
Health & Long-Term Care, February 2, 2006

Staff: Sharon Swanson (786-7447)

Background: Depleted uranium is what is left over when most of the highly radioactive
isotopes of uranium are removed for use as nuclear fuel or nuclear fuel weapons. The depleted
uranium is used in armor-piercing munitions and in enhanced armor protection for some
Abrams tanks.
Heavy metals such as uranium, tungsten, and lead have chemical toxicity properties that, in
high doses, can cause adverse health effects.
Depleted uranium was used extensively in place of tungsten for ammunition by the United
States and United Kingdom in the first Gulf War. A report issued by the Hague Peace
Conference, dated May, 1999, states that at least 320 tons of depleted uranium was "lost"
during the first Gulf War and that much of that was converted at high temperature into an
aerosol, creating a mist or fog.
Once inhaled, very small particles of depleted uranium can reside in the lungs for years,
slowly passing through the lung tissue into the blood. Uranium can be stored in bone, lymph,
liver, kidney, or other tissues. Eventually, all uranium that gets into the bloodstream ends up
in the kidneys prior to expulsion through urine.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: The United States government and military has a history of lying to its
veterans. In Vietnam, it was agent orange. Many veterans returned home to a life of cancer,
children with birth defects, and eventually death. The military claimed to not know about
agent orange. Our new veterans returning home from Iraq face similar challenges. We need
to force the military to perform the proper tests to determine uranium poisoning. The current
test only looks for uranium in urine. That test is only good for thirty days. The conclusive
testing must look at blood results, tissue testing, and must be able to detect microscopic
particles. Depleted uranium becomes microscopic. Troops breath it in and it settles in the
lungs. In Mississippi, returning Persian Gulf male veterans are 1.7 times more likely to father
children with birth defects. Female Persian Gulf veterans are 2.4 times more likely to give
birth to a child with birth defects. This is only the beginning. England and Germany are
conducting the proper tests. The United States needs to do the same for their veterans.
Testimony Against: None.
Who Testified: PRO: Terrence Zander, Veterans for Peace; Jerry Muchmore, Veteran;
George Hill, M.D.; Peter Von Christierson, Depleted Uranium Study Team; Col. Ron
Weaver, Washington Military Department; Harvey Brooks, National Association of Black
Veterans.

The entire 2 page Acrobat file, the bill, the corresponding Assembly bill, and corresponding report are all readily available from the following web page
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=3107&year=2006