WASHINGTON -
Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall honored New Mexico's Tularosa Basin downwinders during a speech on the Senate floor for the 70th anniversary of the Trinity test. Trinity is the codename for the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, which occurred in Southern New Mexico at what was then called White Sands Proving Ground. Many residents living downwind of the test have since suffered from cancer and other health issues due to radiation exposure. Udall is working to ensure the government recognizes their sacrifice and adds them to a compensation program for victims of nuclear bomb testing and manufacturing, and as a part of that effort, he is asking the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing.
Udall met with many of the downwinders and their families in Tularosa, N.M., earlier this month, and he shared some of their stories of loss and illness in his speech, including those of Henry Herrera, Edna Hinkle, Margie Trujillo, Virginia Duran and Nora Foltz. Many community members have lost friends and family members from cancer, or suffered severe illnesses themselves.
"As Gloria Herrera said, the Tularosa community has 'shed enough tears to fill a lake,'" Udall recalled in his speech. "Mr. President, it was my privilege to meet with survivors. Their stories are courageous and troubling, but most troubling of all is the people who were not there - who were not able to speak, who have passed away over the past seven decades. We all speak for them now, and we will keep on speaking until justice is done."
Udall acknowledged the critical work of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, a group dedicated to compiling and sharing data and stories of Tularosa community members diagnosed with cancer and to pushing the federal government to recognize and compensate those affected by the blast. In his speech, Udall called on his colleagues to pass his
bill to expand the states covered by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)
. Udall's father represented groups of downwinders in court cases for many years, and Udall has worked in Congress to expand RECA to include the Tularosa downwinders and other groups of victims left out of the original 1990 legislation.
"Theirs is a tragic story," Udall continued. "They suffered so that we could develop bombs and win wars. That's why I have again pushed for legislation with my colleague, Senator Crapo and several others, to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to finally recognize the Trinity site and to include New Mexicans who have suffered for decades. They deserve justice. They deserve compensation and they are still waiting. Seventy years later, still waiting. We can't change the past. We can't erase the years of illness, the years of pain endured by too many and for too long. But fair compensation will make a difference and provide badly needed help."
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders will hold a candlelight vigil this weekend to remember those who have passed away due to cancer and other radiation-related diseases. Udall concluded his speech, "Together, we will keep working for fairness. And the day will come - when we can stand together in Tularosa. When we can light candles of remembrance. And when we can finally say that justice has been done."
Below are Udall's remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, 70 years ago today, the first atomic bomb was exploded at the Trinity test site in New Mexico. For our nation, it was the beginning of the nuclear age. For the residents of the Tularosa Basin, it was also a beginning - of great suffering, of generations of cancer and chronic illness. Seven decades later, their suffering continues and so does their fight for justice.
The Trinity explosion paid little attention to the surrounding communities. People miles away saw the mushroom cloud. Windows rattled hundreds of miles away. The people of Tularosa saw radioactive debris fall from the sky. The fallout killed cattle, poisoned water and food, and the air we breathe. The damage was done. The destruction was real, and so is the sadness, disappointment and anger. That's very real too.
The rest of the world didn't know about the tragedies that happened in the Tularosa Basin. For a long time, the government denied that anything happened at all.
Attention was not paid then. It must be paid now.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders have not forgotten. They rightly ask that we not forget either. I met with them and their families earlier this month in Tularosa, and they told me their stories.
Henry Herrera was just 11 years old at the time of the blast. He is 81 now. He remembers, "I heard a very large blast and saw a very big flash of light. I got so scared I thought the world is coming to an end." He himself is a cancer survivor. He told me, "I'm the only one alive to tell about it. Everyone else has died of cancer."
Edna Hinkle recalled so many in her family that had cancer. One after the other. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Her mother. Her sister. And herself. She said, "My oldest daughter says it's not a matter of if you get cancer, it's a matter of when."
Margie Trujillo told me that of nine members of her family, six have cancer. Three died from it. The loss is tragic. And so is the frustration. She said, "Many in our community feel our government has turned a deaf ear to our health issues."
I also heard from Virginia Duran. She was born in Tularosa in 1940 and lived on Padilla Lane. She told me that, "On the street where we lived at least 10 people have had cancer. That is just one block."
Many families from the Tularosa Basin know this loss and pain. Nora Foltz is 71 years old. She is the only sibling of five who doesn't have cancer. Her sister, Helen Guerra, is 81 years old. Helen was diagnosed with kidney cancer 17 years ago. Helen's daughter, Lupe, had multiple illnesses, had chronic pain and died at age 62.
There are so many stories - far too many stories - like this. As Gloria Herrera said, the Tularosa community has, "shed enough tears to fill a lake."
Mr. President, it was my privilege to meet with survivors. Their stories are courageous and troubling, but most troubling of all is the people who were not there - who were not able to speak, who have passed away over the past seven decades. We all speak for them now and we will keep on speaking until justice is done.
The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is doing critical work. Organizing the community. Telling their stories. Making sure people listen and understand what happened. Folks like Tina Cordova. They are great advocates. Dedicated, committed, refusing to give up.
Tina summed up the feelings of many, when she told me, "We were the unknown, unwilling guinea pigs in the world's greatest experiment."
I agree with Tina and the members of the consortium. Theirs is a tragic story. They suffered so that we could develop bombs and win wars.
That's why I have again pushed for legislation with my colleague, Senator Crapo and several others, to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to finally recognize the Trinity site and to include New Mexicans who have suffered for decades. They deserve justice. They deserve compensation. And they are still waiting. Seventy years later. Still waiting.
We can't change the past. We can't erase the years of illness, the years of pain endured by too many and for too long. But fair compensation will make a difference and provide badly needed help.
It took many years to create the original RECA program. My father helped lay the groundwork. He devoted many years to fighting in the courts for men, women, and children who were sick because they had lived downwind during nuclear tests. They were exposed to dangerous radiation. They should have been helped but were ignored instead. I remember going with him to meet with folks in St. George, Utah, in 1978. I was just out of law school. There were about 40 or 50 survivors there.
They loved their country. They trusted their government. They were hesitant to speak out. They did not expect special treatment, but they were wounded people caught in the fallout of the nuclear age. They had a right to be heard.
My dad heard them, and he demanded that others hear them as well. He fought for them until the end of his life at 90 years old - first in the courts and then in the Congress. He worked with Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch-an unlikely match if ever there was one-and they kept pushing.
President George H.W. Bush signed RECA into law-25 years ago. It was bipartisan. It was driven by simple fairness. And it was a historic step forward. But it left some folks behind, including the Downwinders in the Tularosa Basin.
My dad would not give up. The families he worked with would not give up. We won't give up either.
Our bill would expand the downwind exposure area to include seven states, from the Trinity and Nevada test sites, and would include Guam for the Pacific site.
It would also allow compensation for post-1971 uranium workers, and would fund a critical public health study of those who live and work in uranium development communities.
I will continue to push for this legislation. It is the right thing to do, and we should get it done, which is why I will again join my Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the Judiciary Committee to request a hearing on this important bill.
Many families in New Mexico have been hurt, and they worry there is more harm to come. When I was in Tularosa this month, I spoke with a woman named Louisa Lopez. Her husband has mantle cell lymphoma. They know at least 17 other people who have cancer or have died from it. She said, "We fear passing this on to our children, future grandchildren and other generations."
This weekend there will be a candlelight vigil in Tularosa. Folks will gather as they do every year now. They will stand together as candles flicker in the warm New Mexico night, and they will remember. They will remember those who have been brought down by cancer and other radiation related diseases. They will remember those who have passed away.
They will remember that a wrong was done and has yet to be righted. And they will offer prayers and support to those who continue the struggle.
As Rosemary Cordova told me in Tularosa, "We can't bring back those we've lost, but we can support those still suffering. All we're asking is that our government face up to the wrong that has been done...that someday soon our government will do what should [have] been done so long ago."
It takes courage to speak out. These folks are heroes. On this 70th anniversary, I want to say to them-thank you. Thank you for making your voices heard. Thank you for making your stories known. And thank you for refusing to give up. I will not give up either.
Together, we will keep working for fairness, and the day will come - when we can stand together in Tularosa. When we can light candles of remembrance. And when we can finally say that justice has been done.
