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WASHINGTON — Advocates for downwinders exposed to nuclear fallout from weapons tests have long called on Congress to extend federal assistance to victims and hoped a Senate proposal to do just that would have been included in the recent spending package approved in Washington.
The extended benefits were not part of the $1.2 trillion package approved over the weekend, however, leaving the House of Representatives until June to take up a Senate bill extending compensation to fallout victims that was passed earlier this month.
Congress initially approved the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990, which gives partial restitution to people who lived in certain parts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona and were exposed to nuclear fallout after weapons tests. While residents of 10 counties in Utah — Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne — are eligible for compensation, the original law doesn't cover residents of northern Utah counties.
The Senate bill that would extend the June 7 expiration date of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act would also expand eligibility to include residents of northern Utah who were also exposed to fallout during that time but aren't covered by the current law.
Mary Dickson, a Salt Lake City resident, is among those not eligible for compensation. She has been pushing to see the changes adopted. Although she's disappointed Congress didn't include the estimated $50 billion cost to expand benefits in the spending bill, Dickson told KSL.com she's optimistic the House is moving toward passing the Senate bill — but she also noted there are only 28 days on the legislative calendar between now and June 7.
"I think representatives are kind of under heat and, hopefully, won't want to let it lapse," she said. "We are trying to remain positive that they do the right thing and take care of people harmed by those weapons."
The Senate bill is sponsored by a pair of Missouri Republicans — Sen. Josh Hawley and Rep. Ann Wagner — and a bipartisan group of 15 lawmakers had urged House and Senate leadership to include the benefits in the fiscal package.
After Wagner expressed outrage at the compensation being left out of the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, issued a statement to local media in St. Louis saying: "I understand her position and I look forward to working closely with Ann as we chart a path together for the House to move forward with evaluating and acting on a reauthorization measure."
Hawley on Monday touted an endorsement of his bill from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the nation's most prominent labor organizations.
Although expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act won't be cheap, Dickson said it's a drop in the bucket compared to what the United States has spent on developing and maintaining its arsenal of nuclear weapons. According to Nuclear Watch, the U.S. has spent an estimated $9.55 trillion on nuclear weapons between 1942 and 2022, and is projected to spend an additional $791.5 billion over the next 10 years.
"If there's the money to make those weapons, there must be the money to take care of the people that they've harmed. There just has to be," Dickson said. "I always like what Josh Hawley says, that this isn't about the cost; it's about taking care of the people that were harmed and doing the right thing by them."
