Congress Seeks to Right a Radioactive Wrong

There is one thing the enlightened federal government excels at–sending its fine young folk off to inhospitable places, promising them gratitude and care, only to develop a highly selective amnesia once they return. Such is the case with those stationed at the Nevada Test and Training Range from 1972 to 2005, who, having faithfully inhaled whatever invisible horrors Uncle Sam happened to scatter about, are now being asked to provide irrefutable proof of their misfortune—preferably notarized, in triplicate, and signed by the very particles that did the damage.

Enter Representative Mark Amodei, who states what’s obvious–that veterans, having been exposed to whatever was lurking in the Nevada dust, should not have to scale bureaucratic Everest to receive the care promised. With Congresswoman Susie Lee at his side, Amodei has reintroduced a bill to grant them the presumption of exposure—an effort to spare them from the indignity of proving what everyone with a functioning mind already knows.

“Veterans, who made such selfless sacrifices for our nation, should not have to move mountains to prove they are suffering,” Amodei declared, perhaps forgetting that moving mountains is precisely what the government expects of its veterans—preferably uphill, in the snow, both ways.

Congresswoman Lee echoed his sentiments, championing the bill as a long-overdue measure of justice for those who, having served their country, would now like to avoid being treated like a collection of bothersome receipts lost in a bureaucratic ledger.

Whether the noble endeavor will be embraced with the urgency it deserves or merely added to the great pile of neglected promises remains to be seen. But one thing is known—while the radiation may have been invisible, the neglect is plain to see.