House Memorial asking for federal RECA revival clears committee
Marissa Lillis, 10, joins her great-uncle Paul Pino, and other Downwinders at the Stallion Gate outside of the Trinity Site on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. New Mexico lawmakers are showing support for a federal effort to reinstate and expand a federal fund to compensate people for radiation exposure from the federal government. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
State lawmakers gave the nod Monday to a memorial requesting the federal government rekindle and expand a program to compensate victims of radiation exposure, passing it out of committee.
House Memorial 15 declares legislative support for the federal Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act, an expired fund that offered lump-sum compensation for limited groups of people with diseases due to radiation exposure from the federal government. HM15 urges the passage of federal legislation to restart the program and expand it to people who never qualified – such as New Mexicans exposed to fallout from the first ever atomic detonation at the Trinity Site.
New Mexico is at the nexus of exposure, co- sponsor Rep. Joseph Franklin Hernandez (D-Shiprock) told the House Health and Human Services committee. From fallout raining down during the atomic weapons program, to uranium mining, the damage from exposure decades ago still ripples through communities.
'Both my grandfathers were miners and millers at a uranium mine, and the only memories I have of them is taking them to their doctor's appointments and seeing the suffering that they had,' Hernandez told the committee.
But it wasn't just personal, he said the Navajo Nation efforts to organize on issues around health, environment and water damage from uranium mining. The Church Rock mining spill in 1979 was the worst radioactive release in the U.S., spilling thousands of tons of radioactive waste and nearly 95 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Rio Puerco.
Federal and Navajo leaders support off-site disposal for Quivira uranium mine waste
'We were dealing with the ongoing issues of these uranium mines on Navajo Nation and also trying to help our relatives navigate the process of applying for this Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act,' Hernandez said.
But the Trump administration is renewing a push to restart uranium mining in New Mexico. As Source NM reported, Cibola National Forest officials recently told staff two long-stalled uranium mining projects are now 'mission critical.' One of those projects is next to Mount Taylor.
In a statement provided to Source NM, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) noted that 'Mount Taylor is and will always be sacred to many Tribes in New Mexico and the southwest, but the 1872 Mining Law gives private companies the right to mine uranium on public land regardless of the objections of Tribes, the state, or the general public.'
Nonetheless, Heinrich said, 'before announcing 'administrative priorities,' the Trump administration should ask New Mexicans what they think the priorities should be and engage directly with Tribes whose members are still dealing with the long-term impacts of legacy mining. We need to pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendments to finally compensate previous generations of uranium miners who sacrificed their health for our nation's security. And we need to reform U.S. mining policy so that sacred places like Mount Taylor are protected from extractive industry and abandoned mines that pollute our water and soil are finally cleaned up.'
New Mexico has long been at the center of a national reckoning over compensation for people injured as a result of nuclear testing. In the case of New Mexico, people living downwind to the July 16, 1945 Trinity Test have fought for years for compensation and justice, a struggle chronicled in the 2023 award-winning film 'First We Bombed New Mexico.'
New Mexico Downwinders demand recognition, justice
Current and past members of New Mexico's federal delegation have sought multiple times to expand RECA to include both downwinders and uranium miners. Most recently, U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Heinrich co-sponsored a bipartisan bill with delegates from other states whose constituents also were excluded from RECA. The U.S. Senate has twice passed legislation expanding RECA, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) did not call for a vote on the measure last year, and allowed the program to expire.
The memorial, which doesn't carry the force of law, will only require passage by the House. If passed, the memorial says copies will be distributed to the federal delegation and members of Congress, encouraging them to once again take up RECA.
Luján, who has introduced RECA legislation since he was first elected to the U.S. House in 2008, told Source in a statement he continues 'fighting' to pass the RECA bill. 'In New Mexico and across the country, individuals affected by nuclear weapons testing, downwind radiation exposure, and uranium mining are still waiting to receive the justice they are owed,' Luján said. 'It is unacceptable that so many who have gotten sick from radiation exposure have been denied compensation by Congress. I'm going to keep fighting.'
Julia Goldberg contributed to the reporting and writing of this article.
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