Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Radiation Exposure Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House Memorial 15 urges Congress to expand federal radiation-exposure compensation
Summary
Lawmakers and witnesses told the House committee that New Mexico residents exposed to uranium mining and nuclear programs continue to suffer health harms; committee gave the memorial a do-pass recommendation by voice vote.
Representative Fernando Fernandez, sponsor of House Memorial 15, asked the committee to send a message to Congress asking it to expand the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).
The memorial “raises awareness of the challenges experienced by people exposed to radiation and encourages the United States Congress to support legislation to expand compensation under the federal radiation exposure compensation act,” Representative Fernandez told the committee.
The bill’s sponsor and two expert witnesses described New Mexico’s long history with uranium mining and nuclear development. Dr. Perry Charlie, who said he is a Navajo citizen and a Manhattan Engineering District and Atomic Energy Commission worker for 56 years, told the committee that “we still continue to face many injustices … we have by far have many, many abandoned uranium mines and 4 mill sites on the reservation.” Camilla Feibelman, director of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter, told the committee she supports the memorial and stressed the human toll of the nuclear industry from extraction through storage.
Representative Ferrari asked whether the memorial includes “downwinders” (residents affected by fallout) as well as miners. Representative Fernandez said it does: “it this impacted more than just the … Navajo uranium miners. We're talking about the residents around the Church Rock area.”
After public comment and witness testimony, Representative Eleanor Chavez moved that the committee give the memorial a do-pass recommendation; Representative Ferrari seconded. The committee chair asked if there was any opposition; seeing none, the chair announced the memorial received a do-pass recommendation.
The committee discussion focused on long-term health and environmental impacts of uranium mining, survivors’ difficulty navigating federal claims, and the memorial’s goal of pressing Congress to expand RECA coverage. The memorial does not itself change state law or create a compensation program; rather, it is a formal request that the U.S. Congress take action.
The committee’s recommendation is a procedural step sending the memorial forward with the committee’s support.
