"WASHINGTON -- With tens of thousands of sick nuclear-weapons workers thwarted in their bids to win compensation from the U.S. government, Congress is under growing pressure to investigate what went wrong with a $12 billion federal program aimed at helping them.

“It’s disgraceful how the affected workers have been treated by a system that’s overly bureaucratic,” said Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, one of six members of the House of Representatives now pushing for hearings, along with Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Tom Udall of New Mexico.

Udall said the program had been “plagued with delays and bureaucratic hurdles,” forcing too many workers to spend their final years battling both illness and the government."

Rob Hotakainen, Lindsay Wise, and Frank Matt report for the McClatchy Washington Bureau January 14, 2016. [2]