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Floor Speech
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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 300, and I ask that it be reported by number.
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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, for my colleagues who don't know, during World War II, the Federal Government established the Hanford site in Central Washington State to produce the plutonium that our Nation needed for nuclear weapons.
To this day, workers are on the job in cleaning up that site. It is important but dangerous work. One of those dangers is beryllium exposure that causes serious respiratory diseases.
Now, Congress passed legislation providing care to those working on our nuclear arsenal, but here is the thing: Not everyone who needs these critical medical benefits for beryllium exposure can get them today. Right now, people have to jump through very costly, unnecessary hoops, and, even then, they could be denied--all because the statute is outdated.
Right now, a beryllium blood test that is ``borderline'' does not count toward a diagnosis even when you are experiencing the effects of beryllium exposure or when it is your third such borderline result. That is just not right. By the way, it is not consistent with the current science either.
My amendment simply updates the statute and brings it in line with an OSHA rule that was finalized under the last administration so that more workers can easily get the care that they need.
And it is a fiscally responsible measure. The CBO estimates it will cost less than $500,000 over 10 years, if anything at all, but it will make a real difference for these workers who have sacrificed so much for our country.
So I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the amendment.
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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the Senator's amendment. This amendment actually changes a longstanding definition related to the President's use of drawdown authority to provide critical military support to our partners in times of need.
It would artificially inflate the value placed on the defense articles--things like weapons or military items or technical data that we provide to our partners and allies, resulting in the administration hitting the cap on its authority much more quickly. That means less aid to Ukraine, less aid to Taiwan, less aid to any ally that needs assistance in the future.
This would undercut our current efforts to support the Ukrainians, limiting our ability to provide them with critical defense articles they need to defend themselves. If this amendment passes, it will be a loss for our ability to support our allies. I urge a ``no'' vote.
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