National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024--Conference

Floor Speech

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Mr. LUJAN. Mr. President, I rise in support of Senator Hawley's motion to table.

And I speak today on behalf of: Annie, Henry, Cipriano, Rosemary, Tina, Louisa, Francisco, Laura, Wilbert, Charles, and the thousands upon thousands of people who have endured the agony and suffering brought on by our nuclear weapons testing in New Mexico and across the country.

In July of 1945, Annie was in her kitchen with her family when, all of a sudden, they heard a boom. The next second, they were on the floor holding onto one another, trying to comfort each other, because around them windows were shattering and walls were crumbling.

When they went outside, they thought that it started to snow, but it was ash falling from the sky. Some families, who were away from the community, later that night returned, only to find clothing that they were hanging on a drying line full of this ash that they didn't know where it was coming from.

Both Annie and her youngest sister Marcie were the only two children living in their little home--their casita--in Capitan, NM. Both have died from cancer.

Henry was just 11 years old when the bomb went off. He recalls thinking the world was ending. Henry watched as his brother, his nephew, and niece all died of cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 63. I am sorry to say that we lost him in 2022.

And it is not just the downwinders who were impacted. Cipriano worked in the uranium mines for 8 years. Now, the personal protective equipment he was given: a single paper mask, one per shift. That mask was useless after into the first hour because it would get covered with something that we have known to be called yellowcake, the particulate from the uranium mine ore that would cover everything, including places where some of these uranium mineworkers would go to have their lunch. And they would try to clean the dust off, but they could never keep up with it because it just kept accumulating.

Some folks were told: Just wait until you get home to shake the yellowcake--the dust--off your clothing, because in those mines, sometimes they would spread water to keep the particulate down. Well, they got the miners' clothing wet. So the yellowcake would stick to it. It was hard to peel off. So wait until you get home and it dries to shake it off.

Many of these families--namely the Navajo uranium mineworkers--lived in a one-home generational house. So if you go home and start shaking your clothing filled with a yellowcake that then dries off, what are you doing to grandma and grandpa, to your siblings, to your kids, and maybe your grandkids when that particulate is now all around you?

Cipriano lived with shortness of breath since he was in his twenties. Later, he developed pulmonary fibrosis, kidney failure, and he eventually needed a kidney transplant. He, too, sadly, passed away.

All of these stories, medical traumas, and generational pain are happening on our watch. And while millions of people flocked to the theaters this summer to see a big blockbuster that told the story about this Trinity test that took place--some of us know what that is--in the Tularosa Basin, the first place that a nuclear bomb was set off on American soil to test it. But not much was mentioned about these families who are dying of cancer today.

You know, some Navajo elders, some women, some grandmas--as we call them--came to Congress when I was a Member of the House to testify. And during one of those conversations, one of those elders asked a question back to those of us who were on the dais. And she said: Are you waiting for all of us to die so that the problem goes away?

I don't know what to say to her when I go home--and I will see her right now--because this legislation, which we all fought for--and I want to thank Senator Hawley for finding a way for us to work together to fight for the families in and around Missouri, working with Senator Crapo, and every one of you for making this happen. And we passed this with a bipartisan strong vote out of the Senate. It has now been taken out of the NDAA in this conference. What do I tell these families?

There is a lot that I have learned in this body: the challenges and frustrations that exist for our constituents, for each and every one of us on occasion. But I have also learned--especially here in the Senate--that the fight is never over; that there is always something that can be done. When I listen to the brilliant parliamentarian team, they teach me on how I can do my job better for the people that I represent. I know that a ``yes'' vote on this might be challenging; but for the families in States all across America, what can we do to help them?

In the same way that this body came together to pass incredible pieces of policy to help victims due to exposure--I will point most recently to an act this Congress took after 9/11 when we got together in a bipartisan way and we said we are going to pass the Zadroga Act-- and that act was not only passed once, but then it was extended for, like, 90 years because it was the right thing to do. And it costs some money. But it was the right thing to do.

There is a liability from the United States of America to these families. I believe that the CBO should actually be using this as a pay-for, because when there is a liability from the United States of America and you fix it, it actually creates credit, a path forward to pay for everything else. But for some reason, the CBO does not release this aggregated data to help us better understand what is happening here.

So I plead and I urge with my colleagues that we find a way to do the right thing here; that going forward, we find a path to get this done.

And I want to say thank you to all the staff and the Members who know about these families now. You have taken time to understand them. And many of you have given me advice on how we can do things better. And I thank you for that. The families thank you for that. So I hope that this fight will not be forgotten.

I urge my Republican and Democratic leadership to work with us to help pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendments.

I thank Senator Hawley.

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