‘Morally, this is obscene’: GOP divided over stripping compensation for radiation victims from NDAA – By Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk (The Hill) / Dec 10, 2023
The exclusion of a measure to extend compensation for people exposed to radiation from U.S. nuclear testing from the annual defense bill this week marked yet another fracture in the Republican conference.
The bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate with a supermajority in August but was not included in the House version of the bill and was ultimately dropped from the final legislation. Co-sponsor Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called its removal a “betrayal” of the country’s commitment to the victims of such radiation.
Proponents of the measure are pointing the finger at Republican leadership, saying they are responsible for stripping it from the NDAA.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) told The Hill he “still can’t understand why Republican leadership would stand in the way of providing support to the American people, who, as uranium mine workers, sacrificed so much for national security purposes.”
