ST. LOUIS — Compensation for radiation victims in St. Louis has been scrapped from the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a lawmaker familiar with the bill said on Wednesday.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) claimed in a statement that he was told "backroom dealers" had stripped from the bill an amendment to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would compensate radioactive waste victims in the St. Louis region.
Hawley, who has aggressively advocated for the compensation, said in a statement posted to social media that he would vote against this new version of the bill, which he called a "major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years."
The bipartisan RECA legislation was co-sponsored by Hawley along with fellow Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
Schmitt said in a Wednesday statement, “If reports are true, it’s incredibly unfortunate that this amendment didn’t get in to the final version of the NDAA," adding that he was looking into further legislation to ensure compensation for victims.
"These victims deserve action and recourse. The careless dumping of this waste happened across Missouri, including in my own backyard of St. Louis, and has negatively impacted Missouri communities for decades. I will not stop fighting until it is addressed.”
The most recent bill language had not been made publicly available as of Wednesday night.
The final votes by Congress are most likely happening before the holidays. Hawley has previously threatened to stall the entire voting process if RECA is slashed.
RECA was enacted in 1990 and amended twice. It was going to end in July 2022 but Congress extended the program for two years.
The act is currently set to expire in May 2024.
