On the recordApril 19, 2010
I rise today to introduce the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendments of 2010. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, known as RECA, was first introduced in this body 21 years ago today. Proposed by the Senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch, this original legislation was a monumental step in recognizing some of the unheralded victims of the Cold-War era. As the United States Government built up its Cold-War nuclear arsenal during the mid-20th century, many Americans paid the price with their health. Some were sickened through exposure to aboveground atomic weapons tests. Others were exposed to heavy doses of radiation from working in the uranium mining industry. All the while the government was slow to implement Federal protections. As a result, a generation of Americans who worked in the mines or lived near testing sites became sick with serious diseases such as lung cancer and kidney disease and many others. Much of the U.S. uranium development occurred on the Navajo Nation. That is where jobs in the mines and mills drew workers from the surrounding rural areas. These workers and much of the country were unaware of the dangers of radiation exposure, and this was despite reports from the European mining industry indicating that uranium mining led to high rates of lung cancer. There should have been a warning call, there should have been a wake-up call, but there wasn't.
