Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Leger Fernández (NM-03) announced Phil Harrison as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union Address to Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Rep. Leger Fernández reintroduced bipartisan legislation designed to strengthen the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), also known as the bipartisan RECA Amendments Act of 2023, in the House. The legislation would compensate individuals exposed to radiation while working in uranium mines or living downwind of nuclear weapons tests and who later developed specific cancers or other diseases.

This bill was added to the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with bipartisan support. But at the last minute and behind closed doors, House and Senate Republican leadership stripped the RECA amendments from the final NDAA.

The Senate is expected to vote on a proposal to extend RECA compensation to uranium workers like Mr. Harrison this week.

“The federal government knowingly poisoned uranium workers as well as New Mexicans living downwind of the Trinity Test site for decades. We must pass the radiation exposure compensation amendments to compensate all New Mexicans who continue to live with the effects of radiation exposure. I’m honored to have Phil Harrison join me for the State of the Union address to urge Congress to bring justice to downwinders and uranium workers,” said Congresswoman Leger Fernández. 

“The RECA amendments are essential for workers like Phil, who was exposed to dangerous conditions but does not qualify for compensation under current law. I urge President Biden to work with the House and Senate to bring justice to the people of New Mexico and all other survivors of our national security priorities,”

“The movie Oppenheimer is expected to win multiple academy Oscars this weekend, but the story that remains untold and the injustice that remains unresolved is the explosion’s impact on people like Phil. We’re going to tell some of that story at the State of the Union,” she concluded.

“The U.S. government must pass the RECA Amendments as soon as possible. We have already lost too many friends and family. When our people took jobs in the mines to support their families, they didn’t know they were putting themselves in danger. Now, we are struggling to pay for medical help,” said Mr. Harrison.

“I’m grateful for Congresswoman Leger Fernandez’s invitation and her push to pass these important RECA amendments,” he concluded.

About Phil Harrison: 

Mr. Harrison is one of thousands of Navajos who worked during the uranium boom, a 40-year period of intensive mining with minimal supervision or protection. Hundreds of Navajo men and women mined for uranium without gloves, masks, or other protective equipment. Miners also came from across New Mexico to live in Grants and mine for the uranium we needed to fuel weapons and power submarines. Uranium workers developed lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, and other fatal respiratory diseases as a result of radon gas present in the mines. In addition, the Navajo people were exposed to radioactive fallout from the Nevada Test Site and have unjustly suffered from cancer or other illnesses without compensation or medical benefits. 

Many Navajos were just children when they began working in the mines. Among them was Mr. Harrison, who joined his father in the mines part-time while he was in high school. His father died in his early forties of lung cancer. Harrison has advocated for those affected for close to fifty years.

Harrison is now an advocate for the Amendments to include compensation for New Mexicans affected by the Trinity Test as well as those who worked in the mines or mills after 1971.

Phil Harrison - Photo Credit: Sierra

Background: 

The RECA Amendments Act of 2023 expands the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to allow downwinders from New Mexico and several other states as well as post-1971 uranium workers and DOE remediation workers to receive compensation.  The program currently limits compensation to downwinders who lived in parts of Nevada, Utah and Arizona at the time of the tests, despite scientific studies indicating the radioactive fallout and radiation reached a number of states in the Mountain West. It also excludes uranium workers who worked after 1971. 

In addition, the RECA Amendments Act of 2023 increases compensation payments for downwinders and onsite participants from $50,000 to $150,000. Last, the legislation extends RECA to prevent its expiration in June 2024. 

The Senate companion bill was introduced by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico).