By Hannah Grover

Posted August 22, 2024

 

As the clock ticks down to Election Day, the U.S. Congress has yet to pass legislation that would compensate New Mexicans who have become sick due to nuclear weapons testing or uranium mining and milling operations after 1971.

 

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act that passed in 1990 excluded New Mexico downwinders and post-1971 uranium workers. The funding in that law expired this year in June.

 

That means no one is eligible to file new claims for compensation despite devastating health conditions like cancer.

 

Democrats are hoping to pin this on Republicans.

 

The refusal to support the reauthorization and expansion of this critical act is not a failure of government, but a deliberate disregard for the suffering of New Mexicans for generations.”
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez

 

Legislation that would have expanded and extended RECA passed the U.S. Senate on a 69-30 vote but House Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t bring the legislation to the floor for a vote.

 

Johnson has endorsed former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, who is running as a Republican to once again represent New México’s 2nd Congressional District.

 

Her opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, alleged during a campaign event recently that Herrell opposes expanding RECA to include New México downwinders.

 

Vasquez said the efforts to get compensation for New Mexicans who were exposed to radiation due to government actions have faced challenges due to obstructions by “MAGA Republicans” like Herrell.

 

“What action do you think Yvette Herrell will take when she’s in Congress, supported and endorsed by the very person who is blocking this legislation?” Vasquez said. “The refusal to support the reauthorization and expansion of this critical act is not a failure of government but a deliberate disregard for the suffering of New Mexicans for generations. It is clear that their political allegiances are prioritizing partisan interests over the basic needs of justice and justice for New Mexicans.”

 

 

But Herrell’s campaign says that is absolutely false.

 

 

Herrell has said in the past that she supports expanding RECA, but she favors a different approach than Vasquez.

 

During her time in office, Herrell worked with other Republicans as part of a working group focused on issues like RECA expansion.

 

“Unfortunately, more and more of my constituents are passing away every day from the side effects of decades-old nuclear testing and uranium mining without the compensation they deserve,” Herrell said in 2022 while she was in Congress. “Time is of the essence for Congress to take meaningful action to make my constituents whole. I am committed to working with my colleagues from both parties to pass new legislation as soon as possible.”

 

The race for the 2nd Congressional District, which represents the Tularosa Basin, is expected to be the closest congressional race in New México this fall. Vasquez narrowly defeated Herrell in 2022.

 

While U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury, who represent the 3rd and 1st Congressional Districts, respectively, attended the campaign event and spoke about the importance of expanding RECA, neither of them mentioned their opponents in the general election.

 

Both Leger Fernández and Stansbury have constituents who worked in the uranium mining and milling industries after 1971 and who have developed health conditions associated with radiation exposure due to that work. Leger Fernández will face Republican Sharon Clahchischilliage, Diné, who formerly served as a state representative. Stansbury will face Republican Steve Jones, a former Army medic.

 

“In 1945 the US government dropped a bomb on our people. The radiation spread across 150 to 200 miles. The sky lit up so bright that people saw a flash for hundreds of miles, and the radiation rained down on them for days,” Stansbury said. “It fell in the soil, it fell in the water. It fell on their animals, and in the days and weeks and months that passed after that bomb, animals died, children died, there were miscarriages in our communities, and for generations, our communities have suffered from the cancers and radiation exposure that continues to impact these communities and the US. Government has never apologized to our people, has never acknowledged their suffering, and has never made good on their commitment to ensure that the people who were impacted by that exposure would find some compensation.”

 

While Republican allies, especially Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, played a key role in getting the Senate to pass the RECA legislation, the Democrats say that electing Democrats will be necessary to accomplish the same feat in the House.

 

This is because the Speaker of the House determines what legislation is heard on the floor of the chamber.

 

Leger Fernández said that there are enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass the RECA legislation, but Johnson has refused to allow that to happen.

 

If Democrats secure the majority in the House of Representatives, she said that will change.

 

“Speaker Johnson refuses to put this on the floor of the house,” she said. “We are just going to flip the house and take it over, and then the Democrats will bring it to the floor of the house. That’s what we’re going to do. So, Speaker Johnson, do the right thing, because, if not, we Democrats will do the right thing.”

 

Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, a California representative, attended the campaign event in Albuquerque to emphasize the overall party support for expanding RECA.

 

“I would say this is both a failure in government and this is a failure in leadership,” Aguilar said about Johnson not bringing the RECA legislation to a vote. “And right now, the House Republican Conference is failing to lead. They are failing to put people first. The House Democratic Caucus, make no mistake, will always and will continue to put people over politics.”

 

Hannah Grover is an Environment Reporter with New Mexico Political Report. This article was originally published by New Mexico Political Report.