AMAC Supports our Atomic Veterans via the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act

‘Exercise Desert Rock,’ Atomic bomb test, Yucca Flats, 5/01/1952. (Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, National Archives)

Section 204 of this legislation would provide a one-time restitution for Atomic Veterans who, under the direction of the Department of Defense, participated in on-site tests and were exposed radiation.

May 28, 2024

The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H-232 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Hakeem Jefferies
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
H-204 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Speaker Johnson and Minority Leader Jefferies,

On behalf of the over 2.1 million members of AMAC – Association of Mature American Citizens, I write to offer our support for H.R. 3853, the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act.”

The Atomic Veterans are retired and former members of the Armed Services who were exposed to radiation during the years following the end of World War II. Between 1945 and 1962, about 225,000 members of our Armed Forces participated in hundreds of nuclear weapons tests, as well as the cleanup of the radioactive residues and contamination on the Enewetak Atoll in the South Pacific. Moreover, thousands of other GIs were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation as a part of the U.S. military occupation forces during World War II in Japan, and those who were held as POWs in and around Hiroshima and Nagasaki before 1946.

Until 1996, all were sworn to secrecy, unable to even talk to their doctors about their past exposure to radiation. It is vital to note the unique nature of this group of Atomic Veterans and the urgent need to honor their service by caring for their service-connected exposure to radiation.

Section 204 of this legislation would provide a one-time restitution for Atomic Veterans who, under the direction of the Department of Defense, participated in on-site tests and were exposed to radiation causing specific presumptive diseases. We ask also that an amendment be added to specifically include the Radiation Cleanup Veterans of Enewetak, Polomares, Spain and Thule, Greenland as these Veterans were exposed to radiation and subsequent injury in the line of duty.

We ask the House to please bring this important legislation to the floor for a vote. S.3853, the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act,” passed the Senate with bipartisan support (69-30) to restore the benefits of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) and we implore the House to do the same. Without this action, the current legislation will expire June 7th, 2024.

Thank you, Speaker Johnson, and Minority Leader Jeffries, for your consideration and for supporting our Atomic Veterans.

Sincerely,

Bob Carlstrom
President
AMAC Action

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