SENATE BILL No. 1053

 

 

June 6, 2018, Introduced by Senators HOPGOOD, BIEDA, NOFS, HANSEN, SCHMIDT, O'BRIEN, YOUNG, GREGORY, CONYERS, HOOD and KNEZEK and referred to the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security.

 

 

 

     A bill to designate July 16 of each year as Atomic Veterans

 

Day in this state.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. July 16 of each year shall be known as "Atomic

 

Veterans Day" in honor of the veterans of the United States Armed

 

Forces who, in the exercise of their duties or in the course of

 

their service, were exposed to a radiation exposure and

 

contamination event. The honored veterans include those who are

 

designated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as

 

"Atomic Veterans" for service as part of the occupation forces

 

assigned to, or who were prisoners of war housed near, Hiroshima

 

and Nagasaki, Japan, after the detonation of atomic bombs over

 

those cities. The honored veterans include those who were involved

 

in radiation exposure events, including post-test events related to

nuclear weapon devices detonated aboveground and underground or in

 

shafts, or whose duties involved regular use of radiation-producing

 

equipment or processes, such as power plant technicians aboard

 

nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, X-ray

 

technicians, and those assigned to the Enewetak Atoll radiation

 

cleanup projects.

 

     Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the

 

date it is enacted into law.