National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024--Conference

Floor Speech

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Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I want to add a few words to my friend Senator Lujan's eloquent statement of the need to do justice to these good Americans who have--let's just tell it like it is--been poisoned by their own government, who have been exposed to nuclear waste, nuclear radiation by the U.S. Government, by the U.S. Defense Department.

These Americans are happy to do their part for national security. They are proud of what they have done for their country. But they deserve to be recognized, and they deserve to be compensated.

And so I want to add again my voice in support of justice for these Americans. And I want to say again to this body that it is wrong--it is wrong--to turn our backs on these tens of thousands of Americans who have given their health and, in many cases, their lives for their country and not been recognized for it; in many cases not been compensated for it. And now they are told that because of the actions of this body, because of the conference report, because of a backroom deal struck in conference, this program that compensates victims of nuclear radiation will soon expire. And tens of thousands of Americans who have relied on this program for 30-plus years for lifesaving health and treatment will get nothing. The lights will go dark, and these Americans will be turned out into the cold. And thousands more--like the residents of my State and New Mexico and other States around this country who deserve compensation--will get nothing.

That is not acceptable to me. It is not right. And I want to take a moment now to tell a story or two from the victims who are affected, just to help everybody understand what is at stake here because I know this is the national defense bill, and if I have learned one thing about this bill, it is, the suits always get paid. The corporations, they always get paid. The defense contractors, they always get paid. They come out great in the end. It is amazing. It is a law in Washington, ironclad. If you are a big corporation, you do defense work, you are going to be fine. This body will take care of you.

But will we take care of the men and women who don't otherwise have a voice in this body? Will we take care of the men and women who don't pay DC lobbyists, who don't work for the Raytheon Corporation? Will they be taken care of? That is the question. Let's meet a few of them. Let me introduce you to Claire.

Claire's parents grew up near Weldon Spring in my State, in Missouri. Weldon Spring is the site of a Manhattan Project uranium refining site. That site sat untouched from the Manhattan Project era until 2001, more than 50 years after it was contaminated.

In 2020, Claire was diagnosed with lymphoma. She was 2 years old. Let me introduce you to Veda, Claire's cousin. Veda, her mom and dad, they all lived together right near that same site where nuclear waste has been dumped, not adequately cleaned up or dealt with. She grew up there, and, wouldn't you know it, just 6 weeks after her cousin Claire was diagnosed with lymphoma, Veda was diagnosed with leukemia. She was 4 years old when she was diagnosed.

Why is this happening in St. Louis? I will tell you why. St. Louis was a uranium processing site, like many other cities around the country, and St. Louis was proud to do its part in the Manhattan Project. You won't get any argument from me about that. You certainly won't get any argument from Missourians. But here is what is not acceptable. After the Manhattan Project was concluded, the Federal Government didn't clean up the waste. No, the Federal Government allowed nuclear waste to sit out in barrels right near a stream that runs along schools, that runs alongside suburbs, that cuts right through the heart of the city.

The Federal Government dumped nuclear waste into a public landfill. Then it dumped the nuclear waste into a second landfill. Then it dumped it into an area in the downtown part of the city. And here we are, all these decades later, how much of it has been cleaned up? None of it. None of it. That is why these children are sick.

Let me introduce you to Howard Billiman because it is not just in Missouri, but it is all over the country. This is Howard Billiman. Howard was a Navajo code talker in World War II, absolutely instrumental to the U.S. war effort. He died of stomach cancer after living downwind from the nuclear tests that Senator Lujan was talking about just a moment ago. And now his children who also grew up downwind have developed cancer themselves. So it is not just one generation. It is generation upon generation because the U.S. Government has not done what is right. They haven't cleaned up the contamination. They haven't made whole the families they injured.

In fact, as this body recognized in 1990, when it first passed the radiation statute, the government owes these folks an apology; it owes them a cleanup; and it owes them recognition and compensation.

That is true also of Bernice Gutierrez. Here is Bernice. She was 8 days old--8 days--when the government tested the first atomic bomb just miles away from her family's home in New Mexico. Her entire family was repeatedly exposed to nuclear tests. As a consequence, 44 members of Bernice's family--44--have been diagnosed with cancer or other radiation-linked diseases. Her mother had cancer three times. Three of her brothers have had cancer. Her sister has had cancer, and she has thyroid disease. Her oldest son passed away from a radiation-linked disease, and her daughter now has thyroid cancer. Add to that, 36 additional relatives who have cancers linked to radiation. This is all one family in one State who have been compensated not at all--not at all.

They have given their health for this country. They haven't gotten recognition. They haven't gotten compensation. That is wrong.

Meet Leslie Begay. Leslie is a Navajo marine who fought for his country in Vietnam. There he is. When he returned home, he went to work mining uranium to support the Cold War effort. Think about this. He goes to Vietnam, fights for his country in Vietnam, comes home, goes to the uranium mines to support his country's Cold War effort. He says he was issued--in his words--``just a rain jacket, safety glasses, and a hard hat. That's it.''

Now, Leslie is having a double lung transplant. He lives in New Mexico. He pays $700 a month for medication. And what does he get for his injuries, for his illnesses brought on by his exposure in the mines? Nothing. Nothing. Zero. He has gotten zero.

I want to introduce you to one more person, my friend, Kristen Camuso. Kristen grew up in St. Louis. She played in and around Coldwater Creek, that creek where the government left barrels of radioactive waste sitting out for literally years, open, the rain, the elements. The waste leaked out of the barrels right down into the creek. And for decades, the people of St. Louis were told: Oh, there is no problem. The creek is fine. No problem at all. You can play in it. Your kids can play in it. You can send your kids to school by it, build houses by it, and people did because that is what the government said. And now thousands of people are sick, including Kristen.

Since her 2012 cancer diagnosis, Kristen has had her gall bladder removed. She has had a total hysterectomy. She has had her left adrenal gland removed, and after all that, doctors found another tumor on her right adrenal gland and a lesion on her liver. Her medicine is so expensive, she has to ration the care. There is just no way around it. As she says, ``I am forced to choose which way I can die.''

I say, again, this is not right. These are good people who have done nothing wrong. Their government has caused this. When the government causes injury, the government should make it right. That is what we are asking for. That is what the radiation compensation program does, and it is wrong to let it expire. It is an injustice. It is a scar on the conscience of this body and this Nation.

And I will come to the floor as long as it takes until we do right by these Americans who have done right by their country because they deserve better than this.

Here is the last thing I will say. You know, you think about the billions of dollars in costs that the government has imposed on these people, taking their health, taking their lives, over decades, and yet what is in this year's Defense bills, the Defense appropriations bills, one analysis recently found that House and Senate appropriators have added at least $26 billion for programs the Pentagon doesn't even want, $26 billion in 1 year.

Things like $5 million for a social network analysis for the Army, $4 million to research the impacts of soil structures on hydrology, $12 million for new snow removal equipment. Where is my favorite? The $15 billion inserted by Senators--$15 billion with a ``b''--in 1 year, $15 billion for 636 weapons projects the Pentagon did not request. That is 636 weapons programs the Pentagon doesn't request. But yet we don't have a dime for these people.

We don't have a dime for the people exposed to nuclear waste and radiation by their own government. No, this is not right. It is not right, and I am not willing to accept it. Senator Lujan is not willing to accept it. And I urge the Members of this body, do not be willing to accept it. We must reauthorize this program. We must do right by these Americans. They deserve it.

This isn't a welfare check; this is justice. It is what they deserve. It is what they have earned. And I will continue to come to this floor as long as it takes.

I am going to make a motion now to extend debate on this bill. I have no illusions that this will succeed. I realize my colleagues are eager, all too eager, to move on, but I think it is important we take as much time as is necessary to understand the stakes of what we are doing and to understand the stakes of turning our backs on these people. Motion to Table Amendment No.

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