Advocates optimistic that Congress could renew downwinder compensation in budget bill
One year to the day since federal lawmakers let compensation for downwinders expire, advocates say they feel more optimistic than they have in months about getting an expansion of the program through Congress.
Although a majority of senators voted to renew and expand the program last year, the bill was never considered in the House of Representatives. But some now see President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' budget bill as a potential vehicle and are urging lawmakers to include compensation in the Senate version of the bill.
'As we know, fallout knows no boundaries,' said Steve Erickson, a longtime volunteer with Downwinders Inc, during a press conference outside the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building Tuesday. 'There's plenty of evidence — it's overwhelming, in fact — that hundreds of thousands of cancers were caused by atomic fallout, and so it's time that — past time now for some years — that RECA be expanded to cover far more of those who suffered from those unwitting exposures.'
Erickson was referring to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, which provided some restitution to people with illnesses linked to exposure to nuclear fallout from tests conducted by the U.S. government at the Nevada Test Site and others. Downwinders from 10 counties in southern Utah were covered under the act, along with people who lived in northern Arizona and Nevada at the time of the tests.
The act was renewed for two years in 2022, but advocates have sought to have the pool of eligible applicants be expanded to cover downwinders across several Western states – including all of Utah — and miners exposed to uranium in Missouri. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, sponsored the Senate expansion bill last year and is said to be working on reintroducing some version of the legislation as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Utah downwinders say they've been in touch with Hawley's office and that the senator is optimistic about the progress being made behind the scenes. They praised Utah's congressional delegation for working toward a solution — Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy in particular, who sponsored a two-year extension of the program last year — but urged Utah's elected officials to support something similar to the expanded bill Hawley pushed last year.
Lee gave a statement to advocates, saying, 'I am proud to work toward RECA reauthorization and to ensure that the Americans who rely upon it continue to receive the care they need.'
The first nuclear test was conducted 80 years ago next month, and downwinders are urging Congress to act quickly to preserve compensation for aging Americans who are suffering from illnesses likely caused by exposure to radiation. They say the federal government has a responsibility to help those who were exposed to radiation from tests without knowledge of the long-term effects.
'I've watched families, friends, colleagues and neighbors suffer from the consequences of the decisions that were made. Those people had no say in any of those decisions,' Claudia Peterson, a downwinder from St. George, said in a statement. 'Tomorrow, I will be sitting at the bedside of my childhood friend as she goes through another surgery related to another cancer, and she is scared to death. There are no words to say what it takes to watch the heartache, to paint a true picture of watching a loved one suffer.'
'And the legacy is what has been left by decisions made by our government,' she added.
A bipartisan group of 41 state lawmakers wrote to Congress urging the extension and expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in April, but Erickson said he hasn't heard a response from Washington. Although the program has expired, the Justice Department has continued to process claims that were submitted prior to its sunset, but those are dwindling, and the program will soon be shuttered.
'Those few claims that are left are still being settled, and when they are done, the program is done, the doors will close, and it will shut down,' Erickson said. 'It'll be harder and more expensive to restart the Justice Department compensation program under RECA if it isn't renewed soon, so it's imperative that Congress act now.'
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