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USCCB Urges House to Extend and Expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is asking Catholics to contact their U.S. Representative to strongly urge them to support the extension and expansion of compensation to people suffering from exposure to radiation from U.S. nuclear weapons testing, production, and waste.
Since 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) has provided American citizens with partial restitution for radiation exposure from U.S. nuclear weapons testing and production. RECA expired in June 2024, adding injustice to the illness, pain, and death caused by radiation exposure from weapons.
In March 2024, the Senate passed the bipartisan Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act (S. 3853) to extend RECA and expand eligible claimants to include ‘downwinders’ (persons in areas exposed to radiation from a weapons test) in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Guam, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The Act now includes compensation eligibility for those exposed to radiation where Manhattan Project nuclear waste was stored, extends uranium worker eligibility, and adds chronic leukemia and renal cancer as compensable diseases.
In his letter on ecology, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis affirmed that war always does grave harm to the environment and to the cultural riches of peoples, and he prayed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial for all the victims of atomic bombings and experiments. “Never again so much suffering!” he lamented. You can read USCCB’s recent letter to Congress in support of the bipartisan Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act (S. 3853) here.
Now, the expansion and extension of RECA depends on the House of Representatives. To contact your Representative, please click below:
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