Josh Hawley

06/12/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/13/2025 13:42

Hawley Secures Historic RECA Expansion in Base Text of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Hawley Secures Historic RECA Expansion in Base Text of 'Big, Beautiful Bill'

Thursday, June 12, 2025

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced today that the largest expansion to date of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has been included in the text of the "Big, Beautiful Bill." This historic provision is a victory for nuclear radiation survivors in Missouri and across America-and a major win for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

"The federal government dumped nuclear waste in the backyards of Missourians for decades-and then lied about it. These survivors sacrificed their health for our national security at the advent of the Manhattan Project, and their children and grandchildren have borne the burden of radioactive-linked illness for generations since. Reviving RECA means acknowledging the debts we owe these good Americans and delivering them the justice and overdue compensation they deserve," said Senator Hawley.

Today's announcement comes as Senator Hawley has fought to reauthorize RECA after the program's compensation funds went dark a year ago due to congressional leadership's inaction.

The expanded RECA provision, which includes multiple bipartisan wins, would:

  • Add eligibility for RECA compensation for residents of affected areas in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska who were exposed to contamination and developed cancers.
  • Fully cover existing RECA-eligible "downwind" areas and on-site participants, such as military personnel. These areas currently include regions of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.
  • Fully cover all existing RECA uranium mine workers.
  • Add new "downwind" areas for claimants: the state of New Mexico, remaining counties in Utah, plus Mohave County in Arizona.
  • Increase benefit levels for atmospheric testing survivors to track inflation.
  • Add new uranium mine workers who worked in mines from 1971-1990, add core drillers as an eligible worker, and expand eligible diseases.

For over two years, Senator Hawley has led the fight to secure funding for survivors of nuclear contamination across the country, having twice passed a reauthorization bill through the Senate in July 2023 and March 2024. This reauthorization bill would revive RECA for survivors, allow claimants from across the country to receive life-saving assistance, and protect the program for years to come.

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Josh Hawley published this content on June 12, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 13, 2025 at 19:42 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io