WASHINGTON— U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Town and Country, and Cori Bush, D-Ƶ, are among Missouri members of Congress who urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to approve funding for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in the upcoming appropriations bill.
In a letter sent Monday to Johnson and other House and Senate leaders, Wagner and Bush asked that RECA “be attached to the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations package,” noting that the current law, first enacted in 1990, will expire on June 7.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley led the fight for the RECA bill in the Senate, which not only extends the law but also expands its scope to include Missouri and other states adversely affected by the nation's nuclear weapons program.
On Thursday, Wagner expressed caution about approving the legislation without designating funding.
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“We’re not looking to raise our debts and deficits any further than they already are,” Wagner said.
Her comments, first reported by the Kansas City Star, drew sharp criticism from Hawley and activists. On social media, Hawley said“Ƶ deserves better” in response to Wagner.
“Shameful for Ann Wagner to turn her back on her constituents — after doing nothing on this issue for years. Ƶ deserves better than this,” Hawley posted on Thursday.
Wagner responded by saying she remained “extremely supportive of the RECA program.”
Also signing the letter to Johnson were Missouri Republicans Blaine Luetkemeyer and Mark Alford.
Here is the full text of the letter:
Dear Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Chairwoman Granger, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chairwoman Murray, and Vice Chair Collins,
We write with the utmost urgency regarding the impending sunset of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). It is imperative that S. 3853, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act, legislation that recently passed the Senate on a 69-30 vote, be attached to the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations package.
As you know, Congress first enacted RECA in 1990 to provide benefits for Americans adversely affected by the U.S. government’s testing of atomic weapons. These benefits have been made available to certain individuals who developed specific cancers or other diseases due to their participation in an atmospheric atomic weapons test, presence within certain areas near such weapons tests (commonly referred to as “downwinders”), or their work mining or transporting uranium. Unfortunately, the long-term ramifications of the federal government’s atomic research continue to harm Americans today, far beyond the scope of current law. RECA’s authorization is currently scheduled to sunset on June 7, 2024, and this program must be renewed and reformed.
In Missouri, nuclear waste from these projects that was discarded in the 1960s has resulted in radioactive contamination spreading throughout the greater Ƶ area, including Ƶ County and St. Charles County. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to find previously unknown areas where radioactive waste has leaked from the Westlake Landfill, an EPA Superfund site on the National Priorities List. In 2021, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources warned the U.S. Department of Energy that contamination levels have not improved at the Weldon Spring Site in St. Charles County, where the federal government refined uranium, that sits less than a mile from a high school. Contamination has also been found in a residential waterway, Coldwater Creek, resulting in the closure of a nearby elementary school. The federal government’s own health investigators have found that this waste has contributed to significantly increased cancer risks for residents, including children. Specifically, in 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a report finding an increased risk of bone cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. Missourians have been living and continue to live in unimaginable fear that they and their loved ones will contract fatal illnesses due to their government’s mistakes.
Missourians, and all Americans affected, deserve restitution from the government for this harm. On March 7, 2024, S. 3853 passed the Senate with overwhelming, bipartisan support. This legislation would not only reauthorize RECA, but also expand benefits to residents, workers, and students of twenty-one Missouri ZIP codes in and around where the federal government discarded radioactive waste. These benefits would include compensation for documented out-of-pocket medical expenses for specified diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and certain cancers. Benefits would also be extended to the beneficiaries of deceased individuals.
With RECA’s authorization expiring in less than three months, time is of the essence. Therefore, we emphatically request that S. 3853 be attached to the upcoming FY2024 appropriations package.