Cape News

Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) held a RECA victory rally in St. Louis to celebrate new funding for radioactive waste survivors in Missouri and other states. This announcement follows a two-year effort that culminated in the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) within the "Big, Beautiful Bill," signed into law by President Trump last week.

The expansion provision introduced by Senator Hawley revives RECA for survivors, enabling tens of thousands of new claimants to receive vital assistance, including those from Missouri, and ensures the program's continuation for years. For two years, Senator Hawley has been at the forefront of securing funding for survivors of nuclear contamination nationwide, passing a reauthorization bill through the Senate in July 2023 and March 2024.

"It wasn’t just the people of Missouri who had waited for seventy years to have justice done. It was the people of the Navajo Nation; It was the people of Utah; It was the people of New Mexico; It was the people of Idaho; It was the uranium miners and atomic veterans from all over the country, who have been waiting for decades for the federal government to finally own up to what it had done," Senator Hawley said. "RECA is the government saying, ‘what we did was wrong. Lying to you was wrong, and we are finally going to make it right.'"

Highlighting the legislation's national impact, Senator Hawley was accompanied at the rally by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren; Missouri RECA activists Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel; New Mexico downwinders Maggie Billman and Laura Greenwood; Arizona downwinder Sherrie Hanna; Keith Kiefer of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, among others.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren expressed gratitude toward Senator Hawley during his speech for championing compensation efforts for radiation victims both in Missouri and across America.

"Senator Hawley, thank you to you and your team and your constant willingness to champion on behalf of all of America. Especially people that have sacrificed so much for this country. So on behalf of the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people, I want to say thank you," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.