Congresswoman Bush Joins Advocates and Impacted Community Members to Urge Passage of RECA Reauthorization
WATCH: “Mr. Speaker, the time is NOW. Bring the bipartisan, Senate-passed RECA bill to the House floor for a vote.”
St. Louis, MO (Apr. 8, 2024) – Last Friday, April 5th, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) joined Just Moms STL, MCE, local electeds and community members who have been directly impacted by Manhattan Project waste to urge the U.S. House of Representatives to take immediate action on S.3853, Senate-passed legislation to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) before the program expires on June 7th.
“I am working tirelessly with my team, burning the midnight oil, joining forces with those across the aisle, and exploring every avenue to ensure that an expanded RECA program becomes law,” said Congresswoman Bush in her remarks. “The clock is ticking. We will not rest until justice is served. We will not falter until every single voice is heard, until every impacted person is compensated, and until every community is restored.”
Watch the full recording of the press conference and Congresswoman Bush’s remarks HERE.
The people who spoke at today's press conference, include:
- Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01)
- Karen Nickel, co-founders of JustMomsSTL
- Missouri State Representative Chantelle Nickson-Clark (D-67)
- Missouri State Representative Doug Clemens (D-72)
- Missouri State Representative Tricia Byrne (R-93)
- Christen Commuso, Community Outreach Specialist at Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE)
- Impacted community members
Congresswoman Bush has been a longtime advocate for the cleanup of Coldwater Creek. Examples of some actions that Congresswoman Bush has put forward, include:
- In March 2024, Congresswoman Bush delivered a speech on the House Floor on the Exclusion of RECA from the spending bill.
- In October 2023, Congresswoman Bush leveraged her position on the House Oversight Committee to secure a Government Accountability Office report detailing the effects of Manhattan Project waste in St. Louis.
- In August 2023, Congresswoman Bush met one-on-one with Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Weldon Spring Site Interpretative Center to discuss radioactive waste across St. Louis left decades ago by the Manhattan Project.
- In April 2023, Congresswoman Bush partnered with Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Justice for Jana Elementary Act of 2023, which would require the cleanup of Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri located in the Congresswoman’s district.
- In July 2022, Congresswoman Bush secured an amendment through the House-passed appropriations bill that transferred $500,000 to study the impacts of low-level radiation on human health and the environment.
- In June 2022, initiated a federal review with the Government Accountability Office for the cleanup of radioactive contamination of Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County.
- In May 2022, Congresswoman Bush introduced the Coldwater Creek Signage Act which would require signage to be posted along Coldwater Creek informing residents of the dangers of radioactive waste exposure.
- Congresswoman Bush voted in favor of H.R. 3967, the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act or Honoring Our PACT Act, which will finally treat toxic exposure as a cost of war by addressing the full range of issues impacting toxic-exposed veterans, including access to earned benefits and health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Included in the PACT Act’s final text were four of Congresswoman Bush’s amendments:
- Amendment 32: This amendment would require that veterans who worked or spent time near the Manhattan Project in St. Louis be studied to determine the impacts of toxic exposure on their health.
- Amendment 22: This amendment would require the Department of Defense to look back and review all known cases of toxic exposure on their military bases not only here in America, but also abroad.
- Amendment 17: This amendment would incorporate race and ethnicity as demographic options in a study on the rate of cancer in veterans.
- Amendment 18: This amendment would include a variety of external factors to be considered in a medical study on all veterans serving after September 11, 2001. Those factors include race, age, period of service, military occupation, gender and disability status.
- In July 2021, Congresswoman Bush passed an amendment to H.R. 3684 – the INVEST in America Act. The amendment would require the EPA Administrator to undertake a review of current and ongoing efforts to remediate radiological contamination at Coldwater Creek and to post public signage to prevent exposure risks for residents in the surrounding areas. The Congresswoman worked with activists, community members, and organizations including Just Moms STL, to introduce the amendment.
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