Downwinders and their advocates in Congress are redoubling their efforts to get government compensation into the hands of unwitting radiation victims.

Under the 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), the federal government pledged to help uranium workers, ore transporters, nuclear testing participants and people exposed to downwind fallout from the nation's nuclear testing program. So far, some $266.4 million has been approved to cover 690 claims.

But the program is plagued with trouble, the biggest one being that the U.S. Justice Department has had to send IOUs to 255 people this year because the fund is at least $80 million short.

"Everybody thinks we are getting that money," said Utah downwinder Dave Timothy, "But we are not."

Lawmakers representing some Western states have led the bipartisan fight to finance the program. And, in a letter sent to President Bush earlier this month, Utah Rep. Jim Matheson urged that future funding for this program be made automatic rather than optional from year to year.

"Our government agreed to pay compensation to people who were unfairly exposed to radiation in order to right the wrong that was done to them," said Matheson, who co-signed the Feb. 6 letter with fellow Democrats, Mark Udall of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico. "It just makes sense that we streamline the claims process so that this long ordeal comes to an end."

The lawmakers also asked Bush to move the program from the Justice Department to the U.S. Labor Department, which administers similar funds for certain nuclear-program workers and miners with black lung disease.

Also working on the downwinders case is Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. After unsuccessfully pushing for full funding last year, he recently asked Timothy to draft a proposal to redirect $20 million originally budgeted for administering the program directly to radiation victims.

As with many of those covered by the compensation fund, Timothy's health has been full of havoc. Since age 18, he has undergone surgery eight times for thyroid cancer, a common disease of people exposed to harmful levels of radiation.

Downwinders hope to update the compensation fund to include health care costs and larger lump sum payments. They currently are set to receive lump sums of $50,000, while nuclear-program workers receive up to $100,000 and have their health expenses paid by the government.

"We didn't volunteer," said downwinder Jay Truman, who now lives in Idaho.

"We didn't advise and consent knowing the risks." After more than two decades of fighting to get the federal government to assist the radiation victims, Truman said he is pleased to see momentum gaining in Washington for the cause.

There is a movement happening in the West