{"id":38504,"date":"2022-09-08T13:10:29","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T19:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-executive-branch-acknowledges-n-m-downwinders-for-the-first-time\/"},"modified":"2022-09-08T19:10:29","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T19:10:29","slug":"u-s-executive-branch-acknowledges-n-m-downwinders-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-executive-branch-acknowledges-n-m-downwinders-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. executive branch acknowledges N.M. Downwinders for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A mushroom cloud comes from the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site, N.M., on July 16, 1945. (Associated Press file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A top official with President Joe Biden\u2019s administration on Wednesday acknowledged the federal government\u2019s role in sending cancer-causing dust into the lungs of thousands of New Mexico residents when it detonated the world\u2019s first atomic bomb in 1945.<\/p>\n

The 15-minute meeting Wednesday morning was the first acknowledgment by the executive branch of the federal government\u2019s role in afflicting New Mexico\u2019s Downwinders, said organizer Tina Cordova. Downwinders are residents who have for generations seen increased cancer and other illnesses from nuclear weapons testing at the Trinity Test Site about 35 miles south of Socorro.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was profound,\u201d Cordova told Source New Mexico of the meeting. \u201cWhen we heard that we were going to be included, we were ecstatic. And I will tell you that (the secretary) said from the very get-go: \u2018I know your issue. I understand your issue. I\u2019ve been briefed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cordova, who is founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, and two other Downwinders met with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-Las Vegas, at a health clinic in Rio Rancho.<\/p>\n

The short meeting occurred just before Becerra attended a roundtable on challenges facing rural health care providers here. Becerra told reporters he would \u201cfollow up\u201d on the Downwinders\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery American is entitled to appropriate health care,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery American is entitled to have the government respond to their needs, especially if those needs were created by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Downwinders have hoped for federal recognition for decades, most recently when they unsuccessfully sought an audience with Biden during his visit to Santa Fe amid record-breaking wildfires. Until now, the only apology they\u2019ve received came in the form of Congressional resolutions inserted into omnibus legislation, Cordova said \u2013 resolutions with no money attached.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s never been a standalone, executive-level acknowledgment issued to us like what we received today from Secretary Becerra,\u201d she said. \u201cI firmly believe he will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear exactly how Becerra\u2019s acknowledgment will translate into compensation for the Downwinders, however. He promised to look for ways to make sure Biden is aware of the issue and to keep the Downwinders in mind, Cordova said, but only Congress has the power to approve a compensation plan for victims of the nuclear test.<\/p>\n

\"This
This July 16, 1945 photo, shows an aerial view after the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site, N.M. (Associated Press file)<\/span>Associated Press file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Recently, Biden signed a bill that extended the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act for two years, but the act does not cover Downwinders like Cordova or members of her family. The extension enables Congress to tweak the bill to cover Downwinders and also uranium mineworkers in New Mexico, Leger Fernandez said Wednesday, but that hasn\u2019t happened yet.<\/p>\n

Cordova has kept a close eye on legislation introduced by Leger Fernandez and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan that would include Downwinders in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. But it hasn\u2019t gotten a hearing yet, and her best guess is that it has a slim majority support in the United States Senate. (She expects it to easily clear the House.)<\/p>\n

She expects the bill would get approval of 54 senators, including four Republican senators, but she said she fears the bill needs 60 to avoid being filibustered. She expects opposition to come from a Republican senator concerned about the cost.<\/p>\n

Downwinders exposed in New Mexico would receive lump-sum payouts and medical benefits under the legislation. The sum was initially proposed to be $50,000, but Leger Fernandez\u2019s bill would boost that to $150,000 and increase the types of cancers potentially covered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now know there are many other cancers that come as a result of either being a Downwinder or mining uranium,\u201d Leger Fernandez told reporters Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The total cost to taxpayers hasn\u2019t yet been established with an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. The lack of a CBO score nine months after the legislation was introduced also has prevented it from being heard yet in either chamber.<\/p>\n

Whatever the cost to taxpayers, Cordova stressed it is far outweighed by the benefits to American citizens hurt by the federal government in its effort to build a nuclear weapon and is dwarfed by the hundreds of billions it has since spent in building and maintaining a nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of this bill is what (Republicans) obviously ask every time that we lobby for this bill. And again, our response is, \u2018This is nominal,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we are the victims who were the collateral damage of our country\u2019s quest for nuclear superiority. And we\u2019ve not been acknowledged nor taken care of, and we\u2019re American citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more from Source New Mexico, visit sourcenm.com.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

meeting with Biden\u2019s health secretary was \u2018profound,\u2019 group says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38504"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}