May 02, 2024

Congresswoman Bush Joins Bicameral Push for Speaker Johnson to Hold Vote on Senate RECA Legislation

 

Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2024) — Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) joined Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and her colleagues, in a bicameral letter urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately act to pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act (RECA). This legislation would reauthorize and expand the RECA program to include Missouri and was approved by the Senate with strong bipartisan support in March. This legislation is critical for communities and individuals who have suffered from the consequences of the United States’ nuclear testing program.

“Between 1945 and 1992, the U.S. conducted 206 above-ground nuclear weapons tests, dispersing radioactive material across vast swathes of the nation. The landmark film Oppenheimer has brought renewed attention to these events, particularly highlighting the first nuclear explosion in New Mexico in 1945. The “downwinders,” along with those involved in uranium mining, milling, and transportation, are still enduring the health impacts from their exposure to this radiation,” wrote the lawmakers.

“We urge action immediately to strengthen the RECA program before its impending sunset in June 2024. The United States government exposed these Americans to radiation as part of our national security efforts through World War II and the Cold War. It is long past time that RECA is strengthened to give these Americans their recognition and compensation. Their livelihoods, often devastated by the long-term consequences of radiation exposure, depend on your leadership and commitment to rectifying past injustices. Let us honor the commitment we made to these citizens by ensuring they receive the support and recognition they so rightly deserve,” the lawmakers continued.

A copy of this letter can be found HERE.

The letter was also signed by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), James Risch (R-ID), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), JD Vance (R-OH), and Representatives Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), James Moylan (R-Guam), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-07), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Dina Titus (NV-01), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Ann Wagner (MO-02), Val Hoyle (OR-04), and Joe Neguse (CO-02).

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 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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