NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Demanding legislators hear their cry, a group of Indigenous people from the Southwest, with generations of illnesses from radiation exposure, are headed to DC.
“Pass RECA now! Pass RECA now! Pass RECA now,” they shouted at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Sunday morning.
More than 50 members of the Navajo Nation, Laguna Pueblo, and Hopi Tribe set out to Washington DC on a roughly 30-hour bus ride.
They’re demanding legislators move on a bill that would compensate victims of radiation exposure, also known as “RECA.”
“These are people who have been waiting for justice for over 79 years,” said Tina Cordova.
It’s been a 14-year-long fight for Tina Cordova of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders and a first-hand experience of generational cancer.
“They thought maybe if we take a larger group, and we drum over there, and we lift up prayers and do our traditional sorts of things, maybe then we’ll get some support, maybe then we’ll get attention, maybe then someone will finally listen to us,” said Cordova.
A bipartisan bill had passed in the Senate but was allowed to expire by lack of action from Speaker Mike Johnson in June.
Some making the journey like Maggie Billiman are putting everything on the line.
“I have sisters that are sick that are coming. They’re like the second stage of cancer, and some of them can’t make it; two of my family members can’t make it. The oldest girl and my brother, they’re having problem. The doctors told them they can’t travel.”
The group sang their anthem, “It ain’t over ‘til we win,” before stepping onto the bus.
The group has plans to protest on the steps of the Capitol, march to Speaker Johnson’s office, and host a candlelight vigil in honor of the lives lost from the exposure.
