Arizona tribal members are in Washington, D.C., this week to urge Congress to reauthorize the compensation programs for victims of nuclear testing and uranium mining.
Members of the Navajo Nation and the Laguna Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo and Hopi tribes want House Speaker Mike Johnson to advance the federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, known as RECA.
The tribe has been disproportionately impacted by uranium mining since the Cold War era. Tribal members account for about 12% of claims approved under RECA by the end of 2023 during the program's 30-year lifespan.
Congress repeatedly extended the program for years, but the most recent extension expired in June. A measure to reauthorize RECA has been stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives for months.
"We stand here today united by a common purpose — to demand justice. This is not just a Navajo issue. It is a national issue, and it is a human issue," Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said. "We call on Speaker Johnson and the House to take immediate action to pass this bill. Every day that passes without action means more families suffering, more lives lost, and more injustice."
If the bill fails, Navajo leaders say the compensation that expired in June will be permanently gone.
About 50 boarded a bus in Albuquerque Sunday for the 30-hour drive to D.C. They planned to deliver medical documents to Johnson Wednesday showing the expenses incurred by survivors and their families to treat radiation-related illnesses, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony on the Capitol steps.