More than two-dozen U.S. lawmakers urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week to set a floor vote on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act, which easily passed the Senate in March.
Although the Senate took a “laudable step by passing an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2024 to strengthen RECA [Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act], it was omitted in the final bill,” according to the April 30 letter signed by Democrats and Republicans.
Among the 31 signees are two Missouri lawmakers, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who have been very vocal on the issue. Only a few weeks earlier, Bush wrote to Johnson and urged the speaker to take action on the compensation law, which without renewal, will lapse on June 7.
“Recently, the Senate passed a scaled down but nonetheless vital measure that proposes a five-year extension of the RECA [Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act program and expands compensation to downwinders in Western states, including New Mexico, and to post-1971 uranium workers, alongside residents in Missouri, Kentucky, Alaska, and Tennessee who have suffered from exposure to improperly stored nuclear waste,” according to the April 30 letter.
“The United States government exposed these Americans to radiation as part of our national security efforts through World War II and the Cold War,” according to the letter, which goes on to say that renewal is “long past due.”
Johnson has other issues demanding his attention, including an attempt to oust him as speaker, which is led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has indicated House Democrats will help Johnson retain his job, for now.
