House to Vote on Radiation Victims Compensation Renewal but With No Expansion

The U.S. Capitol on May 16, 2024. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images)

The House is set to consider next week a measure to renew a compensation program for Americans exposed to radiation during nuclear weapons testing or uranium mining. The legislation, which was approved in the Senate, is being criticized because it doesn’t contain a hoped-for expansion of compensation to states where uranium was mined and processed for the construction of nuclear weapons.

The move came under fire specifically from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who called House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) choice of a narrower bill a “total dereliction.”

“No member from Missouri can possibly vote for this,” Mr. Hawley wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was approved in 1990 to provide funds for residents of areas contaminated by fallout from nuclear tests performed from 1945 to 1962 and for workers mining radioactive materials for weapons production. It was extended in 2022 but is set to expire again on June 10.

Some lawmakers were hoping to not only renew RECA but to expand its benefits to other areas and groups, such as the “downwinders,” or residents living downwind of testing sites.

A broader renewal bill includes an expansion that covers the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, as well as the U.S. territory of Guam. Regions in states such as Missouri and Alaska would be covered as well. It also extends the timeframe for uranium workers to 1990 and expands the list of eligible diseases.

Mr. Hawley sponsored a successful renewal-and-expansion bill in the Senate, which passed in March with 69 votes. Speaker Johnson has instead chosen to advance a smaller, less expensive bill introduced by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) that would extend compensation for two years but with no expansions.

The legislation to reauthorize RECA, HR 8097, sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), has not undergone a Senate vote and has not been considered by a House committee; it will be considered by the House under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority.

“Let me be clear: no RECA bill that excludes Missouri will pass the Senate by consent,“ Mr. Hawley said on X, calling Speaker Johnson’s bill “dirty.”  “I will demand every procedural vote. And every vote will be a reminder the House would rather fund foreign wars than compensate Americans poisoned by their government.”

Would Kill Legislation if Missouri Excluded

Missouri lawmakers are standing firm that the smaller version of the bill won’t advance.

“RECA without Missouri is dead on arrival,” Ms. Wagner wrote on X, urging lawmakers to take up the Senate-passed version of the bill.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) also wrote on X that she wouldn’t vote for an extension that contains no expansion for Missourians.

“Failing to expand RECA is not a viable option. I’m a NO on any effort that doesn’t expand RECA NOW.”

Ms. Bush highlighted the bipartisan urgency of the expansion and renewal at a press conference on May 16.

“When you have Cori Bush and Josh Hawley on the same side fighting for the same thing for our Missourians, you need to listen,” she said.

With the renewal deadline fast approaching, the program’s future remains uncertain. The proposed expansion is estimated to cost as much as $60 billion.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M), who represents the district containing the Trinity Site, where the World War II-era Manhattan Project testing took place, told The Epoch Times on May 16 that she thought the cost might be an obstacle to expansion. But she said the expansion was “crucial so that those families can get help because they’re still dealing with the impacts of it.”

Speaker Johnson’s office didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by press time.