Houses approves Chornobyl resolution (05/26/96)

Houses approves Chornobyl resolution

WASHINGTON - Rep. Christopher H. Smith, chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, spoke on May 22 to the passage of H.Con.Res. 167, which among other things calls for the president of the United States to continue enhanced support for U.S. assistance providing medical relief, humanitarian assistance, social impact planning and hospital development for Ukraine, Belarus and Russia in the aftermath of the Chornobyl nuclear accident. The resolution, which passed 404 to 0, also urges Ukraine to continue its negotiations with the G-7 to implement the December 20, 1995, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), calling for all nuclear reactors at Chornobyl to be shut down by the year 2000.

The Senate companion bill, S.Con.Res. 67, had passed on the evening of April 25 by unanimous consent.

Rep. Smith said: "H.Con.Res. 167 is an important and timely resolution which recognizes the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster - the worst in recorded history - and supports the closing of the remaining reactors in that plant. I recently chaired a Helsinki Commission hearing that examined the devastating consequences of the Chornobyl disaster. Four experts, including the ambassadors of Ukraine and Belarus - the two countries most gravely affected by the disaster - gave sobering accounts of the profound medical, environmental, economic and political consequences of the disaster."

Rep. Smith pointed out that l0 years ago millions of people, including about I million children, were exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation and that since then children, in particular, have experienced alarming increases in thyroid cancer and other conditions, including early childhood diabetes, anemia and illnesses associated with general fatigue. He cited one World Health Organization expert's recent forecast that the total number of thyroid cancers among children in the contaminated zones may ultimately reach l0,000, that these trends have accelerated since the disaster and are expected to increase well into the future.

Thus, H.Con.Res. 167 calls upon the president to encourage national and international organizations to expand the scope of research into the public health consequences of Chornobyl.

While urging Ukraine to continue negotiating with the G-7 to implement the December 20, 1995, MOU, the resolution also calls upon the president to support the process of closing Chornobyl as envisioned by the MOU, while recognizing the tremendous costs involved and its impact on a country undergoing the unbelievably difficult transition from communism to a market-oriented democracy. Finally, the resolution supports the broadening of Ukraine's regional energy sources to reduce its dependence on any individual country.

Rep. Smith concluded, "The international community, including the U.S. government and many American non-governmental organizations, are responding to the consequences of Chornobyl. But more needs to be done, especially as Ukraine and Belarus - the countries which bore the brunt of Chornobyl - are undergoing an extremely difficult transition period and which continue to spend substantial portions of their budgets on dealing with its effects.

"Continued and enhanced international cooperation is vital to address the suffering of millions, to constrain the dissipation of the radiation released a decade ago, and to prevent future disasters similar to Chornobyl," said Rep. Smith.

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