First passed in 1990, RECA provided compensation and healthcare benefits to victims of radiation exposure due to uranium mining and nuclear testing. In attendance were U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM),

Diseases connected to uranium mining and nuclear testing continue to plague the Navajo and other tribes. The bill continuing the help they get dealing with the illnesses is stalled in the U.S. House.

A 2,000-mile bus trip has not deterred representatives from Southwest tribes from traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to support expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The law provides health screenings and financial aid for people sickened by testing of nuclear weapons in the 1940s.

Navajo Nation tribal leaders are the latest to call on Congress to reinstate the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Navajo President Buu Nygren, Navajo National Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, and dozens of others marched in Washington on Tuesday urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on the bill.