On One-Year Anniversary of Expiration of RECA, Luján, Heinrich, Leger Fernández, Vasquez, Advocates Hold Press Call Highlighting Need to Reauthorize and Strengthen RECA
Washington, D.C. – Today, on the one-year anniversary of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) expiring due to Congressional Republican inaction, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), along with U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), issued the following statements highlighting the urgent need to reauthorize and strengthen RECA. The lawmakers underscored the critical importance of delivering long-overdue justice to Americans harmed by nuclear testing and uranium exposure.
Despite the Senate passing RECA reauthorization twice with bipartisan support, House Republicans failed to act before the law expired during the 118th Congress. Senator Luján also secured the public support of then-President Joe Biden during a visit to New Mexico.
“In New Mexico and across the country, thousands of Americans sacrificed in service to our national security. Exactly one year after House Republicans failed to reauthorize RECA, far too many families are still waiting for the justice they are owed. Letting this program expire is a disgrace to the victims and their loved ones who have suffered the consequences of radiation exposure,” said Luján. “One year is far too long to deny compensation to those who are sick and dying from exposure caused by our own government. This Congress, I’m proud to once again lead legislation to extend and expand RECA. I’m hopeful the Senate will once again pass this critical legislation, and I urge Speaker Johnson to finally do right by these victims and bring it to the House floor.”
“In the year since the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expired, thousands of Americans lost compensation for health conditions caused by radiation exposure on behalf of our national security. And thousands of additional victims, victims who were never adequately compensated under the original bill, lost their chance to finally be included,” said Heinrich. “Our federal government has a moral responsibility to support Americans that helped defend our country– and it has a moral responsibility to include all people who were exposed. That begins with reauthorizing RECA and amending it to include those who have been left out for far too long. To the families impacted: keep telling your stories. Keep raising your voices. Together, that’s how we’ll reintroduce RECA, and it’s how we will make it the law of the land.”
“It’s been a full year since RECA expired. A year of silence, sickness, and suffering that House leadership has ignored,” said Leger Fernández. “We know what justice looks like: it’s bipartisan, it’s passed the Senate, and it includes every community harmed by radiation—from the uranium miners in Shiprock to the downwinders in southern New Mexico. Speaker Johnson must let us vote. The longer he waits, the more people suffer.”
“The failure to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act leaves many New Mexicans who continue to suffer from the legacy of nuclear testing and uranium mining without the support they urgently need. Speaker Johnson’s inaction denies justice to downwinders, Tribal nations, and rural communities. Our people are still sick — and they’ve been ignored once again,” said Vasquez. “I’ll keep fighting to reauthorize and expand RECA so these families get the compensation and recognition they deserve.”
“The bomb was detonated at Trinity 80 years ago this July. The people of New Mexico have never been acknowledged or taken care of by their own government who willfully and negligently overexposed them to radiation and caused irreparable harm,” Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. “It has now been one year since RECA expired. We continue to bury our loved ones on a regular basis and then someone else is diagnosed. It is time the people of New Mexico receive justice. Speaker Johnson must do the right thing and allow a vote to reauthorize and expand RECA. Waiting is not an option nor a solution. We will continue this fight until we see the justice we so deserve.”
“Since the RECA bill expired on June 10th, 2024, many of our uranium miners have passed away with no compensation or apology for their sacrifices from the government,” said Loretta Anderson, RECA Advocate. “The RECA bill must be reauthorized to honor our Cold War Veterans, the Uranium Miners, and Downwinders here in New Mexico.”
Since being elected to Congress, Senator Luján has played a leading role in advancing legislation to strengthen the RECA program. He has introduced RECA legislation in every Congress since being elected in 2008.
In January, Senator Luján reintroduced the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act alongside Senators Hawley and Heinrich to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by government nuclear programs.
In 2023, Senator Luján led a bipartisan coalition of Senators to pass RECA as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – the most significant Congressional action in decades to strengthen the program. Republican leadership ultimately blocked its inclusion in the final NDAA bill despite bipartisan support.
In March 2024, the Senate passed Senator Luján’s legislation to extend and expand the RECA program with strong bipartisan support. This included support from then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. After RECA legislation passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support, Senator Luján led a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately act to pass RECA. After months of inaction by Speaker Johnson, Senator Luján held a bipartisan, bicameral press conference in September 2024 with RECA advocates, urging Speaker Johnson to allow a vote on the Senate-passed RECA legislation.
###
