Lawmakers renew push to revive and expand RECA program
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two months after the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expired, lawmakers are still pushing to continue it and expand it.
RECA, for short, provided compensation for people left sickened after exposure to radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining. That included New Mexicans who worked in uranium mines in 1971 and before.
Advocates joined forces with lawmakers to expand the federal program to compensate people exposed to uranium mining after 1971 and nuclear testing in New Mexico, such as the Trinity test – the first instance of a nuclear bomb ever being detonated in the world.
While the expansion passed the U.S. Senate in a 69-30 vote, it stalled in the U.S. House after Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a vote on it.
Eventually, in June, RECA expired. But that isn’t the end of it.
On Tuesday, New Mexico’s congressional delegation came together to discuss the future of RECA. They claim there was no good for Speaker Johnson to pull the vote.
“When you have bipartisanship, you can get something like that passed. You can address injustice. But unfortunately, while the Senate, which is not known for passing overwhelming bills, passed the legislation, Speaker Johnson refuses to bring the senate bill to the floor,” U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez said.
There is no word on when the bill could potentially go up for a vote in the U.S. House.
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