RECA Downwinder Hearing to be Carried Live

Washington, D.C. – Idahoans will be able to view Wednesday’s Senate hearing on federal legislation affecting downwinders Wednesday, as it will be streamed live on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website.  Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will chair the hearing on S. 197, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) Amendments of 2017. 

The hearing is viewed as a major step toward just compensation for victims of radiation known as “downwinders,” related to nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s and 1960s.  If approved, the legislation would increase compensation and widen eligibility requirements for victims of radiation who have been denied government help related to radiation for more than fifty years.  Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Guam would be added to existing areas where victims can apply for compensation under the federal RECA program.  

Crapo and several co-sponsors introduced the legislation in January 2017.  The hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday, June 27, at 10:00 AM ET in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. 

The hearing begins at 8:00 AM MT, 7:00 AM PT.  It will be live streamed here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/examining-the-eligibility-requirements-for-the-radiation-exposure-compensation-program-to-ensure-all-downwinders-receive-coverage 

Witness List
Hearing before the
Senate Committee on the Judiciary

On

“Examining the Eligibility Requirements for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program
to Ensure all Downwinders Receive Coverage”

Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226
10:00 a.m.

Panel I

The Honorable Tom Udall
Senator
State of New Mexico

Panel II

Ms. Eltona Henderson
Director
Idaho Downwinders
Emmett, ID

Mr. Jonathan Nez
Vice President
Navajo Nation
Window Rock, AZ

 Mr. Robert Celestial
President
Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors
Barrigada, Guam 

Ms. Tina Cordova
Co-founder
Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
Albuquerque, NM

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