The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Thursday that would significantly expand a law allowing victims of state-caused nuclear contamination who developed cancer and other serious illnesses to receive federal compensation.
The 69-30 vote reinforced long-held hopes that the federal government would take further steps to make amends for those hurt by the legacy of the country’s nuclear weapons program.
The bill would overhaul a law passed more than two decades ago with an extremely narrow scope and compensate those who participated in or were present during above-ground atomic bomb testing, a hallmark of the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, or uranium miners who worked between 1942 and 1971.
But the drafters of that original law excluded large swaths of those affected by the testing — people known as “downwinders” — including in much of Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. They also completely left out communities in areas like Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Guam.
The legislation, led by Senators Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, and Ben Ray Luján, Democrat of New Mexico, would not only seek to address these failings, but would also raise them significantly beyond the casualties of the Cold War era expand others that were damaged by the aftermath in the decades that followed. The law is set to expire in June unless Congress decides to extend it before then.
“This is a moral question,” Mr. Hawley said. “The government exposed these good Americans to nuclear radiation without their consent and usually without any assistance. Now the government needs to remedy the situation and that is what this program is for. That’s why the reauthorization update is absolutely necessary.”
The bill, which the White House approved in a statement on Wednesday, would require the federal government to compensate anyone seriously injured by the legacy of the country’s nuclear weapons program. It’s unclear whether Speaker Mike Johnson will bring the bill to a vote in the House.
The bill would extend access to the federal fund for six years and expand eligibility to Missouri residents sickened by radioactive waste that was never properly disposed of — and in some cases left outdoors near a stream — in St. Louis , home of a uranium processing plant in the 1940s.
A blockbuster report last year by The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press found that generations of families who grew up in the area have since come to terms with “rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and other mysterious illnesses they believe.” “They are the result of exposure to these diseases,” waters and sediments are struggling.”
The measure would also expand eligibility for civilians affected by testing or the cascading effects of uranium processing in certain ZIP codes in Alaska, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“Since the vote on this bill has come up,” Mr. Luján said, “I have heard from more colleagues about their communities that have been harmed by our country’s complicated nuclear legacy.”
Momentum to renew and expand the program, an effort that has oscillated back and forth for years, increased in July when the Senate voted to add a version of the measure to the annual defense policy bill. But the measure was ultimately removed from the final version of the law after Republicans objected to the high price tag, which members of Congress estimated could be as high as $140 billion.
Mr. Hawley and Mr. Luján say they have since adjusted the legislation — removing a provision that would have provided additional compensation beyond the one-time payment for medical bills — so the cost will be closer to $40 billion. They also revised their bill to shorten the law’s extension from 19 years to six years.
Since its inception in 1990, the law has paid out more than $2.5 billion in benefits to more than 55,000 claimants, according to congressional researchers. Applicants, who may include children or grandchildren of those who would have benefited from the program but have since died, will receive a one-time payment of between $50,000 and $100,000.
A few dozen activists who pushed for the law’s expansion — many of whom say they and their loved ones have become sick from exposure to radioactive waste — sat in the gallery and watched the vote.
As they then left the Senate chamber, several burst into tears.
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2024-03-07 21:01:20
www.nytimes.com