{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2022/5/stanton-disappointed-reca-extension-leaves-arizona-s-downwinders-out", "Stanton Disappointed RECA Extension Leaves Arizona\u2019s Downwinders Out", "2022-05-11", "2022", "2022-05", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Rep. Greg Stanton expressed his disappointment that both chambers of Congress voted to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) program for two years without expanding eligibility to \u2018Downwinders\u2019 in lower Mohave County.\n\nIn remarks on the House floor before passage, Stanton said he\u2019s hopeful that the short-term extension will encourage lawmakers to seek a long-term solution that provides much-deserved justice to families in Arizona.\n\n\u201cTragically, families in the lower portions of Mohave and Clark Counties have lost spouses, parents, siblings, and loved ones to radiation illnesses, and it is an absolute shame that they have been left behind by their federal government,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cI am disappointed that this bill does not include more Downwinders, but I am hopeful that we can use this two-year extension of time to find a way forward to expand Downwinder eligibility.\u201d\n\nA \u2018clean\u2019 RECA extension passed the Senate unanimously last week, the second time in six months the Senate has addressed RECA in a manner that leaves Arizona and Nevada\u2019s downwinders without justice. The Senate inserted a \u201csense of Congress\u201d in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that called for the extension of RECA but specifically excluded Downwinders.\n\nStanton\u2019s Downwinders Parity Act of 2021 was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee with a bipartisan vote last year, following a March 2021 hearing on the impacts of radiation exposure for Downwinders\u2013\u2013the first time in two decades that victims in the Southwest were given an opportunity to speak before a House committee on the urgent need for justice for their communities.\n\nAlthough a version of the legislation has been introduced in each Congress since 2010\u2014first by Sen. John McCain and Rep. Trent Franks\u2014the bill had not earned a committee hearing or vote in either the House or Senate until Stanton aggressively pushed for the effort to move forward.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:29:07Z"]], "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/2022/5/stanton-disappointed-reca-extension-leaves-arizona-s-downwinders-out"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8013001643121243, "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"}