The fight for New Mexicans exposed to radiation continues
In 1945, New Mexico and surrounding states became ground zero for the nuclear test conducted at the Trinity test site. The federal government chose New Mexico for its uninhabited space — and the fallout blanketed New Mexico and states across the country.
This moment in history became known to millions last summer through the blockbuster film, “Oppenheimer.” Sadly, the story of those who lived around the test site did not get the spotlight they rightly deserved.
Not only were those around the Trinity test site not warned or notified of the major nuclear explosion that would be set off, they were never evacuated — left to live in the literal radioactive cloud that settled on their children’s play sets, in the water they drank and in the air they breathed.
This is just one example. Generations of New Mexicans later, thousands of victims and their family members continue to face serious, and often deadly health complications. I’m talking about entire families being wiped out by cancer, lung disease and heart failure.
In 1990, the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) provided compensation to uranium mine workers and downwinders. Despite RECA’s success,
New Mexico Downwinders and uranium workers who worked beyond 1971 were unjustly excluded from that compensation.
Since my election to the House of Representatives in 2008, I’ve introduced legislation in every Congress to strengthen and expand RECA to fill the coverage gap for the victims.
We made real progress on strengthening RECA in July of 2023 when Democrats and Republicans came together to pass my provision strengthening RECA in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
However, Republican leadership blocked the inclusion of RECA in the final NDAA, leaving thousands of victims without the justice they deserve.
This year when President Biden addresses the nation on the State of our Union, I will proudly be sharing this moment with my guest, Tina Cordova, founder of Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. Tina’s family home was 45 miles from where the first nuclear bomb was detonated.
The timing could not be more important. This week, with the commitment of Leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, the Senate will hold another vote on RECA. I am hopeful that this will pass with a bipartisan coalition of senators just as it did last year.
Since the radioactive fallout blanketed the people of New Mexico, many of Tina’s family members developed malignant tumors. Cancer of the stomach took both of her great-grandfathers. Breast cancer, mouth cancer, skin cancer, and brain tumors plague generations of families living near the Trinity test site.
Tina herself is a cancer survivor having been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at just 39 years old and now her 24-year-old niece battles thyroid cancer as well.
Tina has been a champion for justice for the Downwinders and the victims of radiation exposure. Her story — like so many others — is an inspiration to keep up the fight for justice.
She was with me in Belen, New Mexico, when President Biden voiced his adamant support for passing RECA.
This is a bipartisan issue that has a bipartisan solution. And I will continue to work with our bipartisan coalition to keep RECA moving forward.
To the victims still living and suffering in the fallout from these nuclear tests and uranium mining, I have one message for you, and for all who believe in RECA: I will never stop fighting for your stories to be heard and for justice to be delivered.