New Mexico US senators reintroduce bill to reauthorize RECA
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico’s U.S. senators reintroduced a bill to restart and expand compensation for Americans exposed to radiation by government nuclear programs.
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., joined Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Missouri’s two Republican U.S. senators in reintroducing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act.
A similar bill passed the U.S. Senate twice with strong bipartisan support. However, the U.S. House of Representatives never put it to a vote, letting the RECA program expire.
The proposed bill would reauthorize and expand the RECA program. If passed, downwinders of nuclear testing in New Mexico (e.g., Trinity Downwinders) and people who worked in New Mexico’s uranium mines from 1971-1990 would get RECA compensation for the first time ever.
“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. It is unacceptable that so many who have gotten sick from radiation exposure have been denied compensation by Congress,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján said in a statement Friday.
The bill also includes a study on the needs for compensation for downwinders’ ongoing medical costs.
The introduction comes three days before a national day of remembrance for downwinders.
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