"A coalition of community activists called on House leadership to take up a broader reauthorization of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scheduled a vote on a more limited extension next week.
RECA, which compensates Americans exposed to radiation by nuclear testing and uranium mining, is set to expire this summer at the end of a two-year extension. On Tuesday, Johnson scheduled a vote for the first week of June on legislation that would extend RECA another two years and would not expand eligibility.
A separate bill, sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would extend the law for more time and add several states and territories to its eligibility, including Missouri, Idaho, Montana, Guam, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, as well as Americans downwind of the 1945 Los Alamos, N.M., Trinity atomic bomb test.
In a letter first shared with The Hill by Hawley’s office, advocates urged Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to instead introduce the bill from Hawley and Luján, which passed the Senate by a more than 2-to-1 margin in April."
Zack Budryk reports for The Hill May 30, 2024.
SEE ALSO:
Advertisement 
