Radioactive clouds from America’s WWII-era nuclear bomb testing covered untold Idahoans downwind. But federal compensation for the resulting sickness and death never has.

Likewise, radiation victims across the country, including Missouri, have been denied help – even as the U.S. funds foreign wars by the tens of billions.

The U.S. House has a chance to right that wrong before the end of the year, if House Speaker Mike Johnson allows a vote on a bill to reauthorize the 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The chamber inexplicably allowed the law to expire in June, despite its being passed twice by the Senate.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who’s been a leading advocate for the victims, announced a compromise bill during a media call Wednesday that included poignant pleas from victims. Addressing House concerns about the initial $50 billion cost of the reauthorization, the new bill would cap mandatory spending at $5 billion over five years, and would allow Congress to approve more if it deems to.

Despite that 90% cut in compensation, advocates on Hawley’s call Wednesday heartily endorsed the bill and pleaded with Johnson to bring it to the floor before the Congress adjourns at the end of the year.

Hawley said Johnson has been intimately involved in the negotiations over the bill – but added that he has asked both Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz to lobby the speaker on the victims’ behalf.

One such victim on Hawley’s press call, Tona Henderson, is director of the Idaho Downwinders – and is faithfully making good on her promise of 20 years ago to a dying friend that she would see this through.

That friend, Sheri Garmon, is one of the 1,127 victims there whose photos and names adorn Henderson’s wall.

‘Time is now to fix this’

“After the bombings in Japan, the U.S. helped rebuild those two cities. In today’s money, that would be over $40 billion,” Henderson told reporters. “In other issues in U.S. history – 9/11, Camp Lejeune, etcetera – our government has done the correct thing with compensation. Except for RECA.

“The time is now to fix this. Please help our families and friends that are dying.”

Several of those on the call represent Native Americans poisoned by the country’s nuclear program and the mining associated with it.

“Our land, our water and air is contaminated,” said Loretta Anderson of Pueblo Laguna in New Mexico. “We bury our people, our miners, on a weekly basis, suffering from horrific cancers and other illnesses and diseases due to radiation exposure. And there is no end in sight. 

“I pray,” she added while fighting back tears, “that those that have the power to pass the RECA bill find it in their hearts – for the people, for our people, for the people of the United States that were poisoned in the name of national security. The hour is at hand. Now is the time for justice.”

“When the House allowed RECA to expire,” said Keith Kiefer, national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, “they took away a program that’s been a godsend for our veterans and their families. Often RECA is the difference for our veterans not becoming homeless and/or bankrupt. 

“Our atomic veterans have sacrificed for the country and deserve better. They deserve the RECA program that honors their sacrifice.”

‘Before more of us die’

“No more politics with our health,” added Maggie Billiman, a member of the Navajo Nation. “This bill has bipartisan support, so please bring it up to vote before more of us die.”

Rebecca Ruffner, of Yavapai County north of Phoenix, said she worries her children will be without compensation, as she used to ride her horse “all over this county” – and she’s but a year older than her grandfather was when he died “from a type of leukemia related to the radiation that he sustained here.”

Her mother succumbed to a similar fate.

Hawley noted how long victims have been waiting for compensation, particularly outside the limited areas covered by the original 1990 law.

“I want to emphasize how incredibly patient and understanding the advocate community has been in working with the House over a period of months here and working through this process,” Hawley told reporters. “They’ve been incredibly gracious in this compromise. …

“We feel good about where this [legislation] is, but the truth is time is running out. I mean, time is of the essence. This Congress is winding down. And more than that, those who have been exposed to nuclear radiation and who are sick because of it, their time is running out personally.

“It’s time for the government to make right what they have done over many decades. And in my state and many others, to be honest, the lies that they have told to the people of Missouri and other similar states for many decades, this is the chance now for the government to correct that.”

‘Honor their sacrifices’

Navajo Nation President Dr. Buu Nygren, as did others on the call, lauded Hawley and other lawmakers who’ve fought hard to get RECA reauthorized.

“The support of these members is one step toward justice for those who have carried a burden for our nation’s nuclear energy,” he said. “Since the 1940s, Navajo miners have extracted uranium from the veins of our lands, unknowingly exposing themselves and their families to deadly radiation. 

“This sacrifice helped ensure our nation’s security during World War II and the Cold War. But it came at a devastating cost. The legacy of the uranium mining on the Navajo Nation is one of sickness, suffering, environmental devastation – ultimately, deaths that continue to plague my nation and our communities, as well, as of today. …

“In the name of balance and harmony, I ask the nation’s leaders to correct the wrongs of the past, recognize all those affected by uranium mining, nuclear testing, honor their sacrifices and ensure their voices are heard.”