WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) joined U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), along with U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) to reintroduce their Radiation Exposure Compensation (RECA) Reauthorization Act to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by government nuclear programs.
Despite the Senate passing this bill last Congress, the House of Representatives failed to pass RECA reauthorization before its expiration deadline.
“It’s long overdue for Congress to pass an extension and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) that includes the Tularosa Basin Downwinders whose communities and families were harmed by the fallout from the 1945 Trinity Test, the uranium miners exposed to radiation in service to our national defense, and all other Americans who were directly impacted by our nation’s nuclear testing program,” said Heinrich. “Unfortunately, RECA languished in the House of Representatives last Congress due to Republicans’ refusal to put the bill on the floor. I remain determined to finally deliver justice, recognition, and compensation to the Americans whose livelihoods and health have been devastated by the long-term consequences of radiation exposure.”
“In New Mexico and across the country, thousands sacrificed to contribute to our national security. Today, individuals affected by nuclear weapons testing, downwind radiation exposure, and uranium mining are still waiting to receive the justice they are owed,” said Luján. “It is unacceptable that so many who have gotten sick from radiation exposure have been denied compensation by Congress. Despite having passed RECA legislation twice through the Senate with broad bipartisan support, and securing the support of the previous administration, I was disheartened that Speaker Johnson refused a vote on RECA to help victims. This Congress, I am proud to partner with Senator Hawley again to extend and expand RECA. RECA is a bipartisan priority and I am hopeful that we will once again get it through the Senate and hope the Speaker commits to getting victims the compensation they are owed.”
“The time to reauthorize RECA is now. The Senate has done this twice before and must do it again. For far too long, Missourians and others across America have suffered without compensation from their government. It is vital that we unite to pass this legislation now, and that the President sign it into law,”said Hawley.
Heinrich has reintroduced legislation to extend and expand RECA since his first Senate term, starting in 2013.
Last fall, Heinrich joined Luján, U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), and advocates and survivors who traveled all the way across the country from New Mexico for a press conference calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to hold a vote on a Senate-passed bill that would strengthen the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).
Heinrich also pressed Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately take up the Senate-passed and fully comprehensive RECA extension in bipartisan, bicameral letter. The letter, led by Luján, said in part: “We urge action immediately to strengthen the RECA program before its impending sunset in June 2024. The United States government exposed these Americans to radiation as part of our national security efforts through World War II and the Cold War. It is long past time that RECA is strengthened to give these Americans their recognition and compensation. Their livelihoods, often devastated by the long-term consequences of radiation exposure, depend on your leadership and commitment to rectifying past injustices. Let us honor the commitment we made to these citizens by ensuring they receive the support and recognition they so rightly deserve.”
Last March, Heinrich delivered remarks on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to pass bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and expand RECA. Later that day, Heinrich secured Senate passage of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and expand RECA to compensate individuals exposed to radiation while working in uranium mines or living downwind from atomic weapons tests.
###