The Legislature of the State of Louisiana obviously considered the risk of exposure to depleted uranium to be serious enough to mandate a test for returning veterans of Louisiana. The State of Louisiana took the lead in the United States in responding to this need of the soldiers who will be returning from Iraq. In its 2005 session the State Legislature passed Act 69 which called for tests for depleted uranium in the veterans returning from Iraq. Below is a copy of Act 69.
AN ACT To enact R.S. 29:41, relative to exposure to depleted uranium, to provide for definitions, to provide for screening of certain members of the armed forces of the United states; to provide for reports on training, to prohibit state funding of the costs of the testing, and to provide for related matters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
Section 1 R.S. 29:41 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
41. Exposure to depleted uranium
A. For the purpose of this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) “depleted uranium” means uranium containing less uranium-235 than the naturally occurring distribution of uranium isotopes.
(2) “Eligible member” means a member who served in the Persian Gulf War, as defined in 38 USC 101, or in an area designated as a combat zone by the president of the United States during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
(3) “Members of the armed forces” or “member” means a member of the armed forces of the United States, including the Louisiana National Guard, who is a resident of this state.
(4) “Veteran” means a member who served as an eligible member
B. On or after October 1, 2005, any eligible member or veteran who returns or has returned to this state after service in an area designated as a combat zone by the president of the United States and who has been assigned a risk level 1 or 11 for depleted uranium by his branch or service, or any other member or veteran who has reason to believe that he has been exposed to depleted uranium during his service, shall have the right to a best practice health screening test for exposure to depleted uranium using a bioassay procedure involving sensitive methods capable of detecting depleted uranium at low levels and the use of equipment with the capability to discriminate between different radioisotopes in naturally occurring levels of uranium and the characteristic ratio and marker for depleted uranium.
C. On or before October 1, 2005 , the adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard shall submit a report to the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary B Committee on the scope and adequacy of training received by members of the armed forces on detecting whether their service as eligible members is likely to entail, or to have entailed, exposure to depleted uranium. The report shall include an assessment of the feasibility and cost of adding predeployment training concerning potential exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic chemical substances and the precautions recommended under combat and noncombat conditions while in a combat zone.
D. The expenditure or appropriation of state funds for the purpose of providing testing pursuant to this Section is prohibited.
This act was passed unanimously by both houses of the Louisiana Legislature and signed by Governor Blanco.
While Louisiana took the lead in passing this law, it was not the only state to pass such an act. Since July 2005, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York have passed similar acts. Vermont has passed a similar, though slightly different act. 20 states are considering such an act. One purpose of the act is to put pressure on the Pentagon to follow its own guidelines. This raises the first of several questions in relation to the act.
WHO WILL PAY FOR THE TESTS?
The act states definitively that the State of Louisiana will not pay. When I was first told of the act I was told that the Veterans Administration would be responsible for paying for the tests. A member of our group contacted the State office of the Veteran’s Administration and was told that the State Legislature had no authority to mandate that any federal agency be responsible for paying for the tests. Act 69 does not mandate that the Veteran’s administration, or any other federal agency pay for the tests. Who will pay for the tests?
There are other issues in regard to members of the National Guard being sent full time into a foreign war. The Governor is the commander of the National Guard. She has mandated that the tests be given. The members of the Louisiana guard were operating outside of her jurisdiction and so there is a legitimate reason to assume she has a right to mandate that the federal government pay for tests which are aimed to protect the soldiers under her command.
Secondly, the Iraq War has turned members of the Louisiana National Guard from soldiers who make a commitment of 64 days a year into full time soldiers.. These soldiers undergo a much greater risk in a foreign war that in the normal “guard” duty. This risk is one mandated by the president of the United States not the Governor of Louisiana. Our governor has a responsibility to make sure the USA adequately compensates men and women under her command for any risks they undergo including testing for depleted uranium or any other possible health problem incurred in their service of the USA.
Because of Hurricane Katrina Governor Blanco was forced to recall some members of the Louisiana National Guard to Louisiana to assist in the cleanup and restoration of New Orleans. Because of the horrible physical conditions in New Orleans resulting from the chemical and fetal waste it would be so easy for the federal government to maintain that any disruption to the bodies of members of the Louisiana National Guard resulted from exposure to the situation in New Orleans rather than the situation in Iraq. Again, it is imperative that the Governor of Louisiana insist on the federal government pay for any test designed to protect the soldiers under her command.