Show-Me State Times

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) held a rally in St. Louis to mark the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides new funding for survivors of radioactive waste exposure in Missouri and other states. The expansion, included in recent legislation signed into law by President Trump, follows a two-year campaign led by Hawley.

The revised RECA provision revives compensation opportunities for survivors and extends eligibility to tens of thousands of new claimants, including those in Missouri. The program is now set to continue supporting affected individuals for years ahead. Senator Hawley has been at the forefront of efforts to secure federal assistance for people impacted by nuclear contamination, advancing reauthorization bills through the Senate in July 2023 and March 2024.

“It wasn’t just the people of Missouri who had waited for seventy years to have justice done. It was the people of the Navajo Nation; It was the people of Utah; It was the people of New Mexico; It was the people of Idaho; It was the uranium miners and atomic veterans from all over the country, who have been waiting for decades for the federal government to finally own up to what it had done,” Senator Hawley said. “RECA is the government saying, ‘what we did was wrong. Lying to you was wrong, and we are finally going to make it right.'”

The event highlighted how RECA’s impact reaches beyond Missouri. Attendees included Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren; local activists Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel; downwinders from New Mexico and Arizona such as Maggie Billman, Laura Greenwood, and Sherrie Hanna; Keith Kiefer from the National Association of Atomic Veterans; among others.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren expressed appreciation for Hawley's work on behalf of radiation victims nationwide.

“Senator Hawley, thank you to you and your team and your constant willingness to champion on behalf of all of America. Especially people that have sacrificed so much for this country. So on behalf of the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people, I want to say thank you,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.