Utah orgs call on congressional delegation to ‘use your influence’ to reauthorize radiation law

A coalition of local and state organizations joined the Navajo Nation Monday in a letter to Utah’s congressional delegation blasting their “inexplicable opposition” to reauthorizing and expanding an expired law that compensates Americans exposed to nuclear radiation.

Signers of the letter, first shared with The Hill, called on Utah Sens. Mitt Romney (R) and Mike Lee (R) and Reps. Burgess Owens (R), John Curtis (R), Celeste Maloy (R) and Blake Moore (R) to “use your influence” to persuade Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

Signers included Latter-Day Saint Earth Stewardship, Utah Downwinders, Idaho Downwinders, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and the Navajo Nation.

RECA, first passed in the 1990s, financially compensates Americans in the path of World War II-era nuclear testing as well as those exposed during wartime uranium refinement. A bill to reauthorize the law and expand the states covered passed the Senate with a filibuster-proof majority earlier this year, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has yet to bring it up for a floor vote, with his office citing both cost concerns and uncertainty that a majority of the House GOP caucus would support it. The law’s authorization expired in June.

Romney and Lee, both of whom voted against the broader bill that passed the Senate, introduced a separate reauthorization bill, which would not expand the law’s coverage, ahead of the authorization expiring. The House GOP leadership briefly scheduled that bill for a full House vote before pulling it.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the co-sponsor of the more expansive RECA reauthorization that passed the Senate, speculated to The Hill in June that Johnson had pulled the measure due to uncertainty about its capacity to pass the chamber.

“We are frustrated that in the 13 weeks since RECA expired, Speaker Johnson has refused to bring up Senator Hawley’s bill for a vote and has not even met with victims who want to tell their story. When you are finally back at work next week, we hope you will have the courage and decency to advocate for the thousands of Utahns suffering from cancer because of government negligence, and demand the Speaker call S.3853 to the floor for an immediate vote,” the organizations wrote. “Now that you have broken this program that was created for Utah, it is your duty to fix it.”

The Hill has reached out to the members of the Utah delegation for comment.