Political Quotes

“Everyone knows the first atomic bomb was exploded at the Trinity Site in New Mexico. In fact, between 1945 and 1992, the United States Government conducted more than 200 aboveground nuclear tests. These tests exposed nearby communities and the people living and working in those communities to radiation. As a result of the exposure, tens of thousands of downwinders contracted cancers and other diseases. In 1999, in recognition of this exposure, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide a one-time payment to many of these individuals in addition to the uranium miners, millers, and transporters. Unfortunately, downwinders in many States, including my beautiful State of New Mexico, were not included and left to deal with the health effects of these explosions, like the very first bomb, on their own. I recently met with Tina Cordova and members of the Tularosa Basin Downwinder Coalition. They told me the stories of their loved ones who died as a result of these tests. They have fought for so long for the government to simply recognize them and their pain. We do hear their voices, we see their pain, and now we must act. It is not just New Mexicans that have suffered, it is people from Washington to the Dakotas to Texas, and all the way to Guam. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support amendment No.…”