For years, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been the face of a fight in Congress to reauthorize and expand access to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides compensation to individuals exposed to nuclear waste. Now, Hawley has announced a breakthrough: reauthorization and expansion of the program in the Senate’s version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
If the Senate’s version of the bill is finally adopted, it will include in it the largest expansion of the program since its inception in 1990, allowing individuals in regions of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, as well as the already-qualified “downwinders” exposed to nuclear radiation from the testing of the atomic bomb, to be compensated for exposure to toxic waste.
In an exclusive phone interview with ABC News Thursday night, Hawley called the inclusion of the RECA provisions in the Senate’s version of the megabill advancing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda a “huge step forward” in the fight to secure compensation for individuals affected by nuclear exposure.
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“This will be, if we can get the Big Beautiful Bill passed, this will be a huge huge victory,” the Missouri Republican said during the phone call.
The Senate is still working through the larger contours of the package which is expected to include an extension of the Trump 2017 Tax cuts and more funding for defense and border security. The bill is also expected to make changes to a number of programs, including SNAP and Medicaid, in order to cut costs.
Hawley has been outspoken about concerns that the bill could limit Medicaid access for certain individuals and affect funding for rural hospitals. He’s conditioned his support on changes to the Medicaid provisions in the House-passed bill.
The Senate’s Medicaid provisions have not yet been made available.
The proposed reauthorization of RECA will be included in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the reconciliation package. In addition to expansion and reauthorization, the proposal also allows for claims to be used for increased levels of atmospheric testing and adds uranium mine workers who worked in the mines from 1971-1990 to be eligible for benefits under the bill.
“There will be more to do,” Hawley said. “But this is a very very significant expansion.”
Hawley has been engaged in attempting to reauthorize RECA for several years. Some of his constituents in St. Louis are affected by nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project that is currently stored in the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri.
One of those constituents is Dawn Chapman, who lives within miles of the West Lake Landfill and whose son and husband both suffer from autoimmune diseases as a result of exposure to the toxic waste near their home. Chapman has been to Capitol Hill several times over the last few years to advocate for families like hers.
“Tonight, we know we are not alone,” Chapman told ABC News Thursday. “With the help of Sen. Hawley and our community members as well as our other bipartisan REA family, we have been able to turn the lights back on, and make RECA bigger to cover more communities.”
For those affected by nuclear exposure, Hawley said he hopes this moment shows that the country is standing beside them.
“I think it really is an incredible sign that the country is with them,” Hawley said. “I think now this is a measure of vindication. It is a measure of appreciation.”
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The Senate has twice passed an expansion and reauthorization of RECA with bipartisan support, but the bill has failed to gain traction in the House, in part due to concerns about the very high price tag originally estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. That price tag has been refuted by proponents of the bill, and they’ve taken steps to modify it to lower the cost.
With further review and with programs set to sunset in 2028, the price tag should, Hawley said, fit well within the funds allocated to the Judiciary Committee to craft their portion of the reconciliation package. The CBO has not yet scored this portion of the package.
The Senate will still need to maneuver these provisions through the Senate’s procedural rules test as well as the finnicky Senate GOP conference, but Hawley said Majority Leader John Thune has been an ally in including the RECA language in the package. Thune’s support could be critical to keeping the language in the bill.
“It would not be in this mark were it not for him and his commitment to putting it into reconciliation. He has been a terrific partner,” Hawley said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has also conveyed that he “wants to pass the RECA bill,” Hawley said. Inclusion in the bill would make it difficult for House Republicans to reject RECA provisions, given that the package is massive and includes many other GOP priorities.
Hawley said he has spoken with Trump about the move to include this legislation in the tax and immigration bill.
“He’s been very involved in everything, and he and I have talked about the RECA program before on many occasions, we are glad for his involvement in all of this,” Hawley said of his conversations with Trump.
‘Significant’ expansion of nuclear waste compensation now in Trump’s megabill originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
