Hawley touts provision in Big, Beautiful Bill that has even hard-left Democrats celebrating

Sen Josh Hawley R-Mo stood shoulder-to-shoulder with staunch Democrats to celebrate the inclusion of key compensation for survivors of nuclear testing inside President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill on Tuesday Hawley has fought for the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act RECA since the scheme was canceled in It has now been re-upped and greatly expanded thanks to persistent bipartisan advocacy Among the cross-aisle attendees was former Rep Cori Bush D-Mo who was among the largest part aggressive critics of Republicans while in Congress Hawley embraced Bush at the event however Cori thank you We would not be here without you and your work he revealed recounting their multiple prior efforts to pass the law POLITICAL FIGHT OVER BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL SHIFTS TO CAMPAIGN TRAILAlso at the event was Rep Wesley Bell D-Mo who voted against the OBBB but mentioned he supports the RECA law Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren also attended the event and recounted the impact of nuclear testing on his area The bill applies to sites across the country where Americans civilian military and members of the Navajo Nation were exposed to radiation due to nuclear weapons testing and the storing of nuclear waste The event took place at one such site St Cin Park in St Louis The surrounding area has been determined to be a cancer hotzone thanks to the storing of nuclear waste nearby The rule applies to similar sites across Missouri Tennessee Kentucky and Alaska but advocates of the bill and Hawley himself say there remains more work to be done This is a great first step but there is definitely more to do NAACP St Louis president John Bowman notified Fox at the event This is a good day but there are better days to come WHAT'S AUTHENTICALLY IN TRUMP'S BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL'Bowman and others highlighted selected zip codes that aren't eligible for the compensation and they say work demands to be done to expand the documentation Americans can use to prove they qualify for compensation Dawn Chapman founder of Just Moms STL an advocacy group devoted to the radiation exposure issue notified Fox that the process while laborious reinforced her belief in the legislative process She recounted seeing staffers from opposite sides of the aisle celebrating and sharing high-fives after the bill was passed The bill passed through the Senate three times in latest years before at last making it to the president's desk The system still works It does she mentioned The media just often doesn't share it