Bipartisan Leaders, Advocates Continue Push for RECA Legislation on National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders

Press Release

In recognition of National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders, the lead U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives sponsors of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments joined leading advocates to continue the push for Congress to strengthen RECA ahead of the program's sunset date later this year.

U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) introduced bipartisan legislation in September 2021 designed to strengthen the RECA program and compensate uranium workers and those living downwind from above-ground atomic weapons tests who were exposed to radiation.

U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-New Mexico) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The House Judiciary Committee passed the legislation in December 2021.

Crapo chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the RECA program in June 2018. Tona Henderson, of Emmett, Idaho, and head of the Idaho Downwinders organization, provided testimony in the hearing and paid tribute to those in her community who have passed away due to radiation-related illnesses. Her birthplace of Gem County, Idaho, received the third-highest amount of fallout in the nation according to a 1997 National Cancer Institute study.

"Today is an important day to remember the far too many innocent victims lost to cancer-related deaths from radiation exposure due to above-ground nuclear weapons testing. Time is running out for those still with us," said Senator Crapo. "The United States must act now to ensure downwinders are eligible to receive the compensation they deserve."

"New Mexicans played a pivotal role in America's nuclear history, and yet many uranium workers and people living downwind of nuclear testing sites continue to be denied justice through the original RECA program. This is unacceptable, and it's why I have been leading the effort to strengthen and expand RECA over the past decade. On this National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders, I am continuing that push and honoring the lives we have lost from radiation exposure and related health issues," said Senator Luján. "This is a bipartisan effort, and I will continue raising this issue with Senate leadership to identify a path forward."

"As we observe today, National Downwinder Remembrance Day, we pray for all of those that have lost their lives and those that are still suffering from cancer caused by nuclear testing," said Tona Henderson, Executive Director of Idaho Downwinders. "We urge the House and Senate to pass our Bills and correct the injustice of the past."

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