Hawley says radiation exposure compensation amendment stripped from defense bill

A bipartisan amendment to expand compensation for Americans exposed to atomic radiation by the government has been removed from the final version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Wednesday evening.

The amendment, which Hawley cosponsored with Sens. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would expand and reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The original law, passed in 1990, compensates Americans exposed to atomic testing and radiation from ore mining in Utah, Nevada and Arizona.

However, it does not cover New Mexico, the site of the 1945 trinity test of the atomic bomb, nor does it cover Missouri, where wartime production of uranium resulted in the contamination of Coldwater Creek in St. Louis. The amendment would expand the bill to cover New Mexico, Missouri, Idaho, Montana, Guam and Colorado. It would also reauthorize the law for another 19 years. President Biden extended the law a further two years in 2022 but without action, it will sunset in 2024.

Hawley had previously threatened to vote against the final NDAA if the amendment is removed in conference, as well as attempt to block it. The amendment passed the Senate with a supermajority, but the House version of the NDAA that passed earlier this year did not include it. Reached for comment, Lujan and Schmitt both told The Hill they backed the amendment’s inclusion in the conference bill but would not commit to joining Hawley in voting against it or blocking it. 

“This is a major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years,” Hawley tweeted Wednesday evening. “As I promised, I will vote against this bill that betrays the commitment this nation made to nuclear test victims – and do everything in my power to stop it.”