[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11681]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            IN HONOR OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF TRINITY TEST

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BEN RAY LUJAN

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 15, 2015

  Mr. BEN RAY LUJAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
the memory of those who have fallen ill or passed on due to radiation 
exposure from the Trinity test. On this day 70 years ago, rural New 
Mexico became ground zero for the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. 
While it would usher in the start of the atomic age, it also marked the 
beginning of sickness and suffering for generations of people who lived 
and grew up in the Tularosa Basin and other areas downwind of the test 
site.
  Today, we remember those who continue to bear the costs of nuclear 
testing decades later and recommit to seeking recognition and 
compensation for the men and women who have been gravely impacted. As a 
nation we have a responsibility to act and acknowledge the pain that so 
many New Mexicans and other downwinders have experienced following the 
Trinity Test. The legacy of that moment in our nation's history is 
still alive and continues to be felt to this very day by all those 
battling cancer and other diseases as a result of radiation exposure.
  It is long past time for Congress to take action and pass legislation 
expanding the Radiation Expose Compensation Act so that these 
individuals are no longer left behind, and so that we can come to terms 
with the full impact of the nuclear age.
  Though we can never fully compensate these Americans for what they 
have lost, they deserve to be recognized and receive just compensation 
that will help generations of families who have gotten sick because of 
uranium mining or nuclear testing. The men and women who have suffered 
from radiation exposure must not be forgotten.

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