REPORT ON HUMAN RADIATION EXPERIMENTS

President Bill Clinton commented on the final report on human radiation experiments conducted by the federal government between 1944 and 1974. The government failed in its duty to tell the truth and protect citizens. The president promised compensation for the victims of these experiments. He also offered a formal apology to the survivors, their families, and to all American people who must be able to rely upon the United States to keep its word, tell the truth, and do the right thing. As an additional measure, President Clinton signed an executive order instructing every agency of the federal government which conducts, supports, or regulates research involving human beings to immediately review their procedures, and report back by the end of the year. The president also created a Bioethics Advisory Commission to supervise such research. He hopes the commission will ensure that the government never again strays from the basic values of protecting and being truthful with its people.