RECA is the Radioactive Exposure Compensation Act that gives financial compensation to people who were exposed to nuclear explosions during the Trinity nuclear testing, uranium miners, and people who’ve been exposed to nuclear waste that was improperly dumped in waterways around the country. These exposures have led to incredibly high rates of cancer in communities impacted.

While it might not seem like an issue that is important to the military spouse and family community on the surface, it absolutely is. Not only is this an issue of justice, but it is a national security issue. The communities most impacted are Indigenous and rural. These two communities are the source of a large number of military recruits; Native Americans join the military at higher rates than any other demographic.  Uranium mining that was happening on the Navajo reservation was almost exclusively staffed by Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo and other southwestern people. Today every single Navajo code talker has either died of cancer or had cancer. Yet most of those people, the people who not only were instrumental in a World War II victory but also the people who mined the materials for our nuclear arsenal which turned us into an international superpower, have been abandoned by the government as their bodies are destroyed by various cancers.

RECA is a critically important issue for our nation and shows the heart of who we are and who we should be. Families deserve dignity in life and proper compensation for the work they did that built the nation we have today.

This is where you come in!

Below are Two Actions You Can Take Today!

1) Write a letter to your Representative. You can use the handy tool on your right to make it easy!

2) Call Representative Hageman and urge her office to use her role on the Judiciary Committee to include a RECA compromise in the final appropriations package. (We've included a script below!)

Rep. Hageman (WY-1): 202.225.2311

Sample Script:

Hello, I'm calling to urge Representative Hageman to support the reauthorization and expansion of the Radioactive Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). This critical law provides financial and medical support to people exposed to radiation from nuclear testing, uranium mining, and weapons production—many of them Indigenous and Black veterans and their families.

My community has been affected. Families in the Southwest—many Navajo, Hopi, and Pueblo—were used as uranium miners with no protections. In Oak Ridge, TN, Black workers handled radioactive materials with little to no safety precautions. Many were veterans who served with distinction—and who now face painful, life-shortening illnesses without compensation.

As a [military spouse/veteran/family member/citizen], I am concerned not only about justice for these communities but also for my own family. If the government abandons them, what does that say about the promises made to us?

Please convey to the Representative that a RECA compromise must in this year’s reconciliation bill. We cannot wait another year while people die of preventable, government-caused illnesses. Thank you.