Saturday, May 18, 2024

Bush, Bipartisan House and Senate Colleagues, Victims of U.S. Nuclear Tests, Uranium Mining, and Nuclear Waste Call for House Vote on RECA Expansion at Press Conference

 May 17, 2024

Bush, Bipartisan House and Senate Colleagues, Victims of U.S. Nuclear Tests, Uranium Mining, and Nuclear Waste Call for House Vote on RECA Expansion at Press Conference

 

WATCH (at 29:13): Advocates Demand House Speaker Mike Johnson “Pass RECA Before We Die” 

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2024) — Yesterday, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), Congresswoman Leger Fernández (NM-03), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-MN), and a group of bipartisan members in the House hosted a press conference with members of communities across the country with illnesses linked to radiation exposure from the production and testing of nuclear weapons to call on House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on a bill that would extend and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

As of today, the House has just nine working days remaining to act on the RECA expansion bill passed by the Senate. The program, which provides health screenings and compensation for people sickened by U.S. testing of nuclear weapons, expires June 7.

The Senate bill, which Speaker Johnson must bring to the floor for a vote, would expand the program to Missouri, which has been historically excluded, increase compensation provided to those harmed, and extend the program for six years.

“The people standing up here today are proof that World War II is still killing people in this country. My district of St. Louis doesn’t only need RECA, they deserve RECA. Speaker Johnson needs to bring RECA to the floor immediately. Every minute he lets this bipartisan, Senate-passed legislation sit in his lap without action is a minute closer to people having life-saving compensation taken away. We must extend and expand RECA Now,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush.

“We are here to fix a 79-year-old injustice by the Federal Government that has taken thousands of American lives,” said Congresswoman Leger Fernández. We stand on a bipartisan basis with communities who share a common bond of hardship, death, and illness that came about because of our nation’s program to build and test atomic weapons. Democratic leadership is with us. Speaker Johnson, let us vote on RECA expansion and extension.”

Speakers in attendance at the press conference included Senator Luján (D-NM), Representative Bush (D-MO), Representative Vasquez (D-NM), Congressman Moylan (R-Guam), Phil Harrison, a former uranium miner and member of the Navajo Nation, Mary Dickson, a downwinder and cancer survivor from northern Utah, and Karen Nickel, co-founder of JustMoms STL. Senator Hawley (R-MO) was unable to join the press conference in person but said:

“The federal government didn’t just mislead the American people; it lied to them—for decades—about the nuclear waste it dumped in their backyards. And have Missouri radiation victims received an apology? No. Recognition? No. Compensation? Not a dime. Now it’s time for Speaker Johnson to right these wrongs and send RECA to the House floor before the program goes dark come June 7,” said Senator Hawley.

"Last month, the Senate sent a resounding bipartisan message that RECA must be extended and strengthened to compensate victims who suffered in the name of national security. Every member of Congress owes a debt for the sacrifices made by those impacted by nuclear fallout, including Speaker Mike Johnson, and should act now so RECA does not expire,” said Senator Luján.“Victims of radiation exposure have suffered for too long without compensation. The House must act now to ensure these victims receive the compensation they are owed, and I'll never stop fighting to right this wrong." 

“I am proud to be the House Republican co-lead to this effort to reauthorization and expand RECA. The House must take up Senator Hawley’s bill and give the American people the chance to see where their representatives stand on this issue,” said Congressman Moylan. “Guam’s lack of inclusion in the original RECA is an injustice only furthered by every day we delay in compensating those Americans who were affected by radiation exposure just because they lived downwind of the tests in the Bikini Atoll. I will fight every day and on every bill moving through our chamber to force a vote on RECA.” 

“I’m fighting to reauthorize and expand RECA in this year’s NDAA to finally bring justice to the communities like those in New Mexico and beyond, who have been suffering for far too long,” said Congressman Vasquez. “Last year, Speaker Johnson removed RECA from the final NDAA. We are running out of time to deliver justice and much-needed economic aid to our southern New Mexico communities.”

“RECA is not a partisan issue. This is a human rights issue,” said Congresswoman Stansbury. “New Mexico’s history with innovation is storied but painful, and it is up to us now to ensure people in our state—especially the downwinders—have the support and care they deserve. As we learn more about the devastating and deadly impact of radiation and nuclear testing, we must not let RECA expire and we must include the downwinders. Speaker Johnson, hear us! We must bring this vital legislation to the House floor. Our colleagues in the Senate sent it to us to bring it over the finish line. I stand with the downwinders and support an expansion to RECA.”

Congresswoman Bush has been a longtime advocate for the cleanup of Manhattan Project waste. Examples of some actions that Congresswoman Bush has put forward include:

  • Earlier this week, Congresswoman Bush requested an urgent meeting with Speaker Johnson to further push for immediate action on RECA before it expires.  She also sent a letter to every single one of her colleagues urging them to support RECA.
  • Earlier this month, Congresswoman Bush joined Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and colleagues in a bicameral letter urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately act to pass RECA.
  • In April 2024, Congresswoman Bush joined advocates and impacted community members to urge the U.S. House of Representatives to take immediate action on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
  • In October 2023, Congresswoman Bush leveraged her position on the House Oversight Committee to secure a Government Accountability Office report detailing the effects of Manhattan Project waste in St. Louis.
    • In June 2022, initiated a federal review with the Government Accountability Office for the cleanup of radioactive contamination of Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County.
  • In August 2023, Congresswoman Bush met one-on-one with Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Weldon Spring Site Interpretative Center to discuss radioactive waste across St. Louis left decades ago by the Manhattan Project.
  • In April 2023, Congresswoman Bush partnered with Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023,which would require the cleanup of Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri located in the Congresswoman’s district.
  • In July 2022, Congresswoman Bush secured an amendment through the House-passed appropriations bill that transferred $500,000 to study the impacts of low-level radiation on human health and the environment.
  • In May 2022, Congresswoman Bush introduced the Coldwater Creek Signage Act which would require signage to be posted along Coldwater Creek informing residents of the dangers of radioactive waste exposure.
  • Congresswoman Bush voted in favor of H.R. 3967, the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act or Honoring Our PACT Act, which will finally treat toxic exposure as a cost of war by addressing the full range of issues impacting toxic-exposed veterans, including access to earned benefits and health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Included in the PACT Act’s final text were four of Congresswoman Bush’s amendments:
    • Amendment 32: This amendment would require that veterans who worked or spent time near the Manhattan Project in St. Louis be studied to determine the impacts of toxic exposure on their health. 
    • Amendment 22: This amendment would require the Department of Defense to look back and review all known cases of toxic exposure on their military bases not only here in America, but also abroad. 
    • Amendment 17: This amendment would incorporate race and ethnicity as demographic options in a study on the rate of cancer in veterans. 
    • Amendment 18: This amendment would include a variety of external factors to be considered in a medical study on all veterans serving after September 11, 2001. Those factors include race, age, period of service, military occupation, gender and disability status. 
  • In July 2021, Congresswoman Bush passed an amendment to H.R. 3684 – the INVEST in America Act. The amendment would require the EPA Administrator to undertake a review of current and ongoing efforts to remediate radiological contamination at Coldwater Creek and to post public signage to prevent exposure risks for residents in the surrounding areas. The Congresswoman worked with activists, community members, and organizations including Just Moms STL, to introduce the amendment.

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