holding placards that said, Respect the 1868 Treaty. RECA should be reauthorized. A group of Din people marched to the Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock on Monday to honor the National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders and to call on their tribal leaders to urge the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. They said, “Funding for Health Care and Speaker Johnson, pass RECA before we die.”
People who get sick from radiation exposure from the US developing and testing nuclear weapons are compensated by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA.
However, the initiative ended last summer due to inaction on the part of Congress. This means that only claims that are postmarked before June 10, 2024, will be taken into consideration, and no new claims may be submitted.
In an Instagram Live video of the group’s march, Kathleen Tsosie stated, “We’re still fighting for RECA up in Washington.” From the 1940s through the 1960s, Tsosie’s father, grandfather, and uncles all worked as uranium miners on the Navajo Nation close to Cove, Arizona.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 30 million tons of uranium ore were mined from Navajo lands between 1944 and 1986. Hundreds of Navajo people worked in the mines, frequently residing and raising families near the mines and mills.
In addition to being a member of the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee and a two-time cancer survivor, Tsosie has spent decades advocating for RECA.
Tsosie spoke in front of the Navajo Nation Council Chambers about the significance of cooperating with the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and House in order to enact RECA.
Idaho downwinders continue to fight when Congress reduces their compensation.
She added that their most recent initiatives included sending a number of groups to Washington, D.C., in September to promote the reauthorization of RECA, but that they were unsure of what lay ahead.
The Sawmill Din Warriors, a Navajo tribe primarily from the small town about 20 miles north of Window Rock, Arizona, were one of such organizations.
Sawmill Din Warriors founder Maggie Billiman made a speech Monday in front of the Navajo Nation Council Chambers, urging more assistance for RECA and families nationwide.
She stated that she battles for RECA justice on behalf of her children and would keep fighting until the act is passed for her tribe and others around the nation.
Billiman went on to say that the White House must understand that we are just as human as they are.
Following the failure of last year’s legislation to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of senators intends to resume RECA.
To pay those who were exposed to radiation through government weapons programs, U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ben Ray Lujn (D-NM), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) have reintroduced the measure.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there were hundreds of uranium mines in the United States between the 1940s and the 1990s. Usually on federal and tribal lands, the majority operated in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona.
According to the EPA, there are around 15,000 uranium mining sites, and over 4,000 of those have been shown to produce uranium.
According to a press statement from Kelly, residents of Arizona who live close to nuclear testing facilities and uranium mining sites have been exposed to hazardous radiation levels for decades, leading to major health issues. We owe it to them and everyone affected nationwide to make amends and provide them with the assistance they are due.
Additional communities downwind of nuclear test sites in the US, such as those in Idaho and Guam, would be included in the RECA expansion bill. Eligibility for uranium workers, including those who worked after 1971, would be expanded. The program was open to communities affected by radioactive waste from the tests, and expansion would increase compensation payments to reflect inflation.
According to a news statement from Hawley, the time to reauthorize RECA is now.
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He stated that Missourians and other Americans have endured suffering for far too long without receiving any restitution from their government. We must work together to pass this legislation as soon as possible and have the president sign it into law.
According to the Arms Control Association, the United States carried out 1,030 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992.
According to the Nevada National Security Site, 928 nuclear tests were carried out at the Nevada Test Site between 1951 and 1992. The remainder were subterranean explosions, with about 100 being atmospheric tests.
According to theUnited Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, atmospheric tests involved unrestrained releases of radioactive materials directly into the environment, causing the largest collective dose of radiation from human-made sources thus far.
In New Mexico and across the country, thousands sacrificed to contribute to our national security, Luj n said in a press release, adding that many of the individuals impacted by nuclear weapons testing, downwind radiation exposure, and uranium mining are still waiting for justice.
He stated that RECA is a bipartisan priority and that it is intolerable that Congress has refused compensation to so many people who have become ill as a result of radiation exposure. He said he hoped the bill would pass the US Senate once more.
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said during Monday’s march of RECA advocates to the Navajo Nation capitol that the Navajo Nation must constantly remind its congressional and federal leaders who are in charge of making decisions about compensation that their people and communities have endured generations of suffering due to radioactive materials.
She claimed that the federal government was aware of the influence that the material would have on our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, as well as how it still affects their children and grandchildren now.
According to Crotty, the Navajo Nation has a legacy of uranium poisoning, suffering, and health inequalities, and it is time for Congress and the federal government to provide full compensation to individuals affected.
She went on to say that the time is now and that both parties should embrace this issue because it is a bipartisan one.
According to Crotty, one of the first stages in the United States’ efforts to rebuild our communities is to properly support and extend RECA.
Arizona Mirror,like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The editorial independence of Arizona Mirror is maintained. For inquiries, send an email to [email protected] to reach Editor Jim Small.
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