The new, compromise version of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) should be approved. And support from Utah’s House delegation — John Curtis, Burgess Owens, Celeste Malloy and Blake Moore — will be key to making it happen.
As far back as 1990, the United States government accepted responsibility for the millions of cases of cancer and other ailments that could be traced to atomic weapons tests of the 1950s and 1960s. The original RECA, sponsored by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and signed by President George H.W. Bush, offered compensation to many of the victims.
But the bill never covered more than a small percentage of the territory and persons affected. And it expired in June.
A bill to restore the compensation process, and expand those eligible to all those living in Utah and seven other states and territories at the time, passed the Senate with bipartisan support in March. Astoundingly, both of Utah’s senators, Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, voted against it.
The bill then moved to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote.
Since then, senators who led the approval of the previous version have drafted a compromise that will still expand the number of those eligible, not only to more states but also to those who worked in mining and other phases of the nuclear arms race, but cap the cost at $5 billion over six years.
The cost of the original Senate-passed version, $50 billion over 19 years, was apparently the sticking point for many members of Congress.
Johnson must be convinced to move the compromise bill along. He will be much more likely to do so if each member of Utah’s all-Republican delegation will tell him how important it is to them and their constituents.
America has always managed to find enough money to build more and larger weapons of war. It has not always been so responsible about cleaning up the mess afterwards, especially the human suffering.
Those who were afflicted by radiation poisoning during the Cold War are casualties of that war and deserve our assistance.
Utah’s members of Congress can, and must, take the lead in making that happen.
