Reca Extension Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Cohen for his leadership on this issue. Arizona and New Mexico get along very, very well, particularly on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 4119, the RECA Extension Act of 2022.

Since 1990, RECA has provided payments to more than 37,000 individuals who have suffered health consequences due to the Federal Government's atomic weapons development and testing programs. We know an extension of RECA is necessary. There are still families filing claims for their fair share of restitution, and according to a recent publication of the CDC, many more individuals will develop cancers and illnesses linked to the radiation exposure in the years to come.

But we also know that since its inception RECA has inexplicably excluded far too many downwinders from the program. Some Americans-- like uranium millers, miners, ore transporters, and those present at weapons testing sites--were exposed to radiation directly through their work, while others were exposed downwind just going about their daily routines as fallout from atmospheric testing blanketed their homes and communities.

When the lines of eligibility were drawn for downwinders to access RECA funds, there existed a major flaw. Two counties--Clark County, Nevada; and Mohave County, Arizona--were only partially included. Although Mohave County has the highest age-adjusted rates of invasive cancer and the highest mortality rates from cancer of any county of Arizona, only the northern portion of the county is downwinder- eligible. And in Nevada only the northeastern-most townships of Clark County are included, despite it practically sharing a border with the Nevada Testing Site where most of the atmospheric weapons testing occurred.

Tragically, families in the lower portions of Mohave and Clark Counties have lost spouses, parents, siblings, and loved ones to radiation illnesses, and it is an absolute shame that they have been left behind by their Federal Government.

Since I was elected to Congress, I have worked to remedy this decades-old injustice. It has been one of my top priorities, and my bill, the Downwinders Parity Act of 2021, would extend RECA eligibility to the rest of these two counties and deliver justice to many Americans who have been left behind.

I am disappointed that this bill does not include more downwinders, but I am hopeful that with this 2-year extension we will have enough time to find a way forward to expand downwinder eligibility.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on S. 4119.

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