Bipartisan Missouri lawmakers blast Johnson for scheduling vote on smaller radiation exposure bill

Democratic and Republican lawmakers from Missouri blasted Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) decision to schedule a House vote next week on an extension of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) that would exclude the state from eligibility.

RECA, first passed 30 years ago and set to expire this summer, compensates Americans exposed to World War II-era nuclear testing and uranium mining. A bipartisan bill sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), which passed the Senate in April, would extend the bill for six years and expand its coverage to multiple states, including Missouri, where St. Louis’s Coldwater Creek remains contaminated by runoff from wartime uranium production.

The bill scheduled for House consideration next week, the RECA Extension Act of 2024, is an extension with no expanded eligibility introduced by Utah Sens. Mike Lee (R) and Mitt Romney (R). It has yet to receive a vote in committee or the full Senate.

“Let me be clear: no RECA bill that excludes Missouri will pass the Senate by consent. I will demand every procedural vote. And every vote will be a reminder the House would rather fund foreign wars than compensate Americans poisoned by their government,” Hawley posted Tuesday evening on the social platform X.

Hawley’s counterparts in Missouri’s House delegation similarly signaled their opposition to the narrow extension.

“Next week, @SpeakerJohnson plans to rip off Missourians & thousands of others who are suffering from radioactive waste dumped in our backyards by the federal government,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) posted on X. “Failing to expand RECA is not a viable option. I’m a NO on any effort that doesn’t expand RECA NOW.”

Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) called the bill “dead on arrival” if it does not include compensation for Missourians, adding, “I will continue to fight for the expansion of RECA so Missourians are given the justice they deserve.”

Lee and Romney have defended the smaller bill as a lower-cost alternative that would prioritize extending the law before it expires. Romney also told The Hill his and Lee’s bill “is reserved [for] those individuals who have been determined to actually be suffering as a result of radiation exposure,” prompting pushback from Hawley on the Senate floor.