{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2021/1/remembrance-day-stanton-vows-keep-fighting-justice-downwinders", "On Remembrance Day, Stanton Vows to Keep Fighting for Justice for Downwinders", "2021-01-27", "2021", "2021-01", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "On the National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders, Rep. Greg Stanton renewed his commitment to bring justice to victims of radiation exposure in Mohave County in northwestern Arizona and Clark County in southern Nevada. He will introduce the Downwinders Parity Act of 2021 later this week.\n\nStanton began his fight in the last Congress by pushing to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which makes it possible for victims of illnesses resulting from atmospheric nuclear testing and uranium industry employment to file claims with the Department of Justice. His bill would update RECA to include both Mohave and Clark counties as affected areas\u2014a change Stanton argues is long overdue.\n\n\u201cDownwinders and advocates have been fighting for this justice and recognition for many years. It\u2019s past time we fix this oversight,\u201d said Stanton. \u201cThis bill will ensure that Arizonans adversely affected by our country\u2019s national security decisions will have access to the health care treatments and resources they deserve.\u201d\n\nUnlike residents in other affected areas of Arizona, Nevada and Utah, the residents of lower Mohave County and most of Clark County have never been compensated by the federal government. Stanton\u2019s bill would also instruct the Attorney General to submit a report to Congress outlining what efforts will be undertaken to educate and conduct outreach to those made newly eligible.\n\nBackground\n\nThis National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders, January 27, 2021, marks the 70th Anniversary of the first atmospheric nuclear test at the Nevada Proving Ground test site, approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.\n\nThe United States government conducted nearly 200 atmospheric weapons development tests as part of Cold War security from 1945 to 1962\u2014an era when other nations also engaged in nuclear weapons testing and proliferation. These tests exposed thousands of Americans to cancer-causing ionized radiation from nuclear fallout.\n\nWhen the injuries were discovered, Congress attempted to make amends on behalf of the nation by passing the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to establish a trust fund for partial restitution to individuals who have contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases that can be directly attributed to the radiation exposure from the nuclear weapons testing.\n\nUnfortunately, that bill included serious boundary flaws that have prevented otherwise eligible Arizonans from receiving justice and the compensation to which they are entitled. Americans that reside in counties in close proximity to where the testing occurred are excluded from this program for no logical scientific reason, specifically residents in Mohave County, Arizona and Clark County, Nevada.\n\nThe serious effects of exposure to low doses of radiation can be unpredictable, but incredibly harmful. There\u2019s a higher tendency among Downwinders to develop certain cancers including Leukemia, Multiple Myeloma, Lymphomas and many more. RECA covers 19 compensable diseases.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:19:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stanton.house.gov/2021/1/remembrance-day-stanton-vows-keep-fighting-justice-downwinders"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8766599930822849, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}