[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 162 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INCLUSION OF IDAHO AND MONTANA IN THE RADIATION EXPOSURE COMPENSATION 
                                  ACT

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise in support of this bill to expand 
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, RECA, to include the States of 
Idaho and Montana. I am an original cosponsor of the legislation being 
introduced by Senator Crapo.
  The National Academy of Sciences, NAS, recognizes that citizens 
affected by fallout from atomic bomb testing in Nevada were not only 
the citizens of that State or Utah, but also citizens to the north, and 
east, and throughout much of the world. This bill, consistent studies 
showing that parts of Idaho and Montana were among the most affected, 
expands RECA geographically to include these two States.
  My colleagues and I are in the business of making Idahoans eligible 
for RECA compensation as expeditiously as possible. Studies that take 
years will simply not do for citizens who would otherwise be eligible 
if they lived on the other side of a State line.
  The NAS recommended that RECA should be overhauled, and I will make 
sure this happens. In the meantime, those Idahoans and Montanans who 
qualify for compensation today should be made eligible immediately.

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