<div dir="ltr" style=""><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; border-left-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); border-left-width: 3px; border-left-style: solid;">-----Original Message-----<br />Subject: Bipartisan Group of Senators Reintroduce the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act<br />From: "Crapo News Release (Crapo)" <newsclips@crapo.senate.gov><br />To: <br />Date: 02/05/15 17:41:52<br /><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><b><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-variant: small-caps;'>For Immediate Release: February 5, 2015</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant: small-caps;'>Contact: Lindsay Nothern (Crapo), 208-344-1776</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant: small-caps;'>Suzanne Wrasse (Risch), 202-224-8078</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant: small-caps;'>Alyssa Roberts (Udall), 202-224-2582</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant: small-caps;'>Whitney Potter (Heinrich), 202-228-1578</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><b><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'> </span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><b><span style='color: black; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: "Arial Bold"; font-size: 19pt;'>Bipartisan Group of Senators Reintroduce the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><b><i><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 15pt;'>Says bill would help Americans get the care they need</span></i></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>Washington, D.C.— U.S. Senator Mike Crapo led a bipartisan group of senators this week in renewing their efforts to expand restitution for victims of radiation exposure related to U.S. nuclear arms testing in the 1950s and 1960s. As a part of that effort, Crapo introduced S. 331, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which seeks to expand RECA eligibility to affected individuals in Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico</span><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>and Utah. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>Since its creation in 1990, RECA was designed to assist those directly affected by above-ground nuclear testing or work in</span><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>uranium mines in the United States, but limited to individuals in certain counties in Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Known as “downwinders”, these Americans suffered from cancer and other various health issues as a result of radiation exposure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences released a report calling on Congress to establish new scientific criteria for decisions about awarding federal compensation under RECA, arguing that states far from the original Nevada test site were not only exposed to radiation, but also may have been exposed to much higher levels than those in currently eligible areas. Crapo has since then introduced or co-sponsored legislation seven times to amend the program. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>“Idaho communities and individuals who have been adversely affected by our nation’s weapons programs must be justly and sufficiently compensated by the federal government,” said <b>Crapo.</b> “I recognize the burden placed upon cancer patients and their families to pay for the expensive regimen of treatments this disease requires, and this legislation is an important step in helping Idahoans get the care they need and deserve.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>“For years and years, Idahoans have been making their case to the federal government for help in dealing with troubling health issues and even cancer that they suffer from as a result of nuclear testing,” said <b>Risch</b>. “This bill would afford Idahoans the same assistance that neighboring states already receive for victims of radiation exposure who so badly need help.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>“During the Cold War, many New Mexicans and others sacrificed their health and safety for our nation, and it is our solemn duty to ensure they receive quality care and compensation. Tragically, our government hasn’t fulfilled that ideal for many Americans who worked in uranium mines or were inadvertently exposed to radiation during the Cold War nuclear arms race,” <b>Udall</b> said. “This bill is a step forward for downwinders, former miners and their families who deserve compensation for their hardships." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style='color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>“New Mexico has a long and storied history of contributing to our national security and energy needs, including communities that were essential to the mining and processing of uranium during the Cold War. Thousands of uranium mill workers and miners are still suffering long-term health consequences, such as cancer, as a result of their exposure to uranium dust and other hazardous materials," said <b>Heinrich. </b>"These workers sacrificed their heath and their lives for our country, and this legislation would help make good on our responsibility to compensate them so that they can receive care they deserve.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>Joining Crapo in introducing the bill are Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style='color: black; line-height: 105%; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;'>To directly link to this guest column, please use the following address: <a href="http://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/release_full.cfm?id=358684">http://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/release_full.cfm?id=358684</a></span></div>
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