New bill makes another attempt to add Guam to the radiation pay program

Torres asks Moylan: What's the strategy to get a congressional nod for the new legislation?

By Jayvee Vallejera

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Guam Del. James Moylan announced plans to reintroduce the recurrent—and always failing—proposal to include Guam in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act program.

"We are introducing the bipartisan Radiation Exposure Reauthorization Act of 2026 to expand eligibility to reflect the realities of U.S. atomic weapons testing," Moylan said.

“It's such an unfortunate situation where we have health concerns for our residents. We want to do what's correct for the nation by taking care of its citizens," he added.

Congressional candidate Mary C. Torres asked Moylan whether he had any strategy to get the bill sailing smoothly through Congress.

"Hope is important, but hope without a strategy risks becoming disappointment," said Torres, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the Aug. 1 primary.

Initially established in 1990, RECA aimed to compensate individuals exposed to radiation from U.S. nuclear tests. However, it has faced criticism for not including many communities that have a documented history of exposure to nuclear tests and radiological waste in its eligibility criteria for payments.

Plans to introduce the new bill coincide with the 81st anniversary of the United States' first detonation of a nuclear bomb in New Mexico.

Moylan, joined by Reps. Dina Titus of Nevada, Wesley Bell of Missouri and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, announced the bill’s introduction at an online news briefing. They called on the U.S. government to heed the human costs of nuclear tests that were carried out in the name of “national security.”

The new bill aims to correct these historical injustices by adding new states, counties and atomic cleanup veterans, increasing maximum compensation to $150,000 and covering the medical expenses of parents who lost children due to radiation exposure.

The bill would allow the use of affidavits when applying for claims.

Moylan said this is a procedural shift designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape and make it easier for people, especially in rural and native communities, to submit claims when medical records are no longer available.

Cordova disclosed that medical records in New Mexico are retained for only 10 years and then destroyed—not archived. 

“In the case of somebody who had cancer 10 years ago, it's impossible to get records more than 10 years ago, and so the affidavits are going to be even more important,” she said. 

The bill, Moylan said, would also extend the claim filing deadline by 15 years.

Vasquez believes this is the most impactful of all. Right now, New Mexico's downwinders have a very narrow two-year window to claim their benefits. He said this sense of urgency to file a claim has opened the door to rampant fraud across New Mexico. 

The bill also directs a study of the long-term health effects of radiation exposure from the atomic weapons program, focusing not just on the people who were exposed but on their descendants, “so we can see how these things pass from one generation to the next,” Titus said.

The new bill would also allow the U.S. attorney general and the U.S. president to add new classes of individuals to the list of those who are eligible for compensation, eliminating the agonizingly long wait for congressional action.

Moylan said the new bill, which he plans to introduce in the next few days, is designed to reflect the true, borderless footprint of nuclear testing.

Robert Celestial, president of the Guam-based Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors and a veteran of the Enewetak Atoll cleanup, spoke about the physical and generational toll of the Pacific tests and recalled the devastating scale of the testing.

"A total of 67 nuclear detonations were conducted from 1946 to 1962 and for decades, the nuclear fallout fell on my island and my people," Celestial said. "This was kept secret due to national security, while the people of Guam were exposed to ionizing radiation, unknowingly suffering and dying from cancer."

In 2005, the National Research Council released a report, stating that “Guam did receive measurable fallout from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific.”

The council recommended that people living on Guam during that period be compensated under RECA, “in a way similar to that of persons considered to be downwinders.”

Countless legislative attempts to include the territory in RECA downwinder benefits ultimately stalled. Celestial hopes the 2026 bill would finally bridge this divide.

"Last year, we were excluded because the committee did not understand that we, the people of Guam, are U.S. citizens," Celestial said. "They too should be recognized, compensated, and included."

PARS also wants the Northern Mariana Islands, a neighboring U.S. territory, to be recognized in the RECA bill as a downwinder community.

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Torres said Moylan has failed to explain why Guam was excluded from the previous legislation.

"What specific strategy exists to move the current bill through a Republican-controlled Congress?" Torres asked.

She noted that no Republican co-sponsors or partners have been publicly identified to help build support in the House and the Senate.

"Every piece of legislation introduced in Congress should be accompanied by a plan. That means building bipartisan relationships before introduction, identifying realistic legislative vehicles, working closely with Senate partners, and communicating honestly and consistently with the people of Guam," Torres said. "That is the approach I will bring to RECA, Supplemental Security Income, and every federal issue affecting our island."

Torres asked how the new legislation would address its substantial fiscal impact and navigate procedural concerns that could impede its passage.

"Families who have already waited decades deserve more than another bill number," Torres said. "They deserve a clear roadmap for success. They also deserve honesty. Anything less, as we are seeing today, is unacceptable."

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