Justice for Downwinders
Dear Friend,
Nearly 80 years ago, in central New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, at a place we now call the Trinity Site, the world as we knew it changed. The Trinity Test was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon in human history. The families who lived downwind from the Trinity explosion in the Tularosa Basin have lived the consequences of that day for every moment of their lives.
These families were never told that the white dust falling around them that day would contaminate their bodies, the bodies of the children they had yet to bear, or the crops, water, and livestock they had built their communities around. They were never told about the kinds of cancers that they would get, the health conditions they would suffer through, or the loved ones that they would lose.
To this day, the families who were downwind from the Trinity Test have not received the recognition or the compensation for what they endured so that our nation could be victorious in the Second World War. These folks deserve justice.
VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández speak about the importance of the Senate passing legislation to renew and expand the Radiation Exposer Compensation Act, March 7, 2024.
That’s why I am proud to announce that the Senate just passed our bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to compensate individuals exposed to radiation while working in uranium mines or living downwind from atomic weapons tests.
Before the vote, I spoke on the Senate floor about why it is so important and long overdue for Congress to finally amend RECA to include Trinity Downwinders, all Americans who were downwind from nuclear tests, and all of the uranium workers who were exposed to radiation in service to our national defense.
I hope you can take a moment to watch and share the video of my remarks.
VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) speaks on the Senate floor about legislation to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, March 7, 2024.
The bill we just passed will update the current RECA program by expanding the geographic downwinder eligibility to include then-residents of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This would include Tularosa Basin Downwinders, who were downwind from the 1945 Trinity test in New Mexico.
Our work isn’t finished. The House still needs to take up our legislation before we can send it to President Biden’s desk. But I won’t stop fighting until we deliver justice to all Americans who were directly impacted by our nation’s nuclear testing program and all of the Cold War-era uranium workers who were exposed to radiation in service to our national defense.
Sincerely,
