{"id":2262511,"date":"2024-06-07T17:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T21:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-weighs-spending-cap-on-nuclear-testing-victims-bill\/"},"modified":"2024-06-07T17:20:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T21:20:42","slug":"congress-weighs-spending-cap-on-nuclear-testing-victims-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-weighs-spending-cap-on-nuclear-testing-victims-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress considers spending limit for nuclear testing victims&#8217; bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-weighs-spending-cap-on-nuclear-testing-victims-bill%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2262511&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Privately<\/a>, lashed out at Johnson\u2019s handling of the \u200dexpansion.<\/p>\n<p>The House\u2064 is discussing the idea of implementing a spending cap\u200d on a program for nuclear testing victims that is set \u200dto \u200cexpire. \u200bThis comes\u2063 amidst\u200d Speaker Mike \u2063Johnson&#8217;s reservations \u2063about the \u200bprogram&#8217;s estimated cost\u200d of $50 to $60\u200b billion. Advocates for\u2064 expansion\u2064 of\u200d the program,\u200d which compensates those suffering from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-to-send-depleted-uranium-shells-to-ukraine\/\" title=\"US to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine.\">radiation-related illnesses<\/a>, have proposed\u200d various solutions including cost offsets. The latest idea of a\u200c spending cap was prompted \u200bby House leadership&#8217;s desire to keep the compromise under $10 billion. However, it is unclear if this\u200b proposal will satisfy Speaker \u2063Johnson. In the Senate, Senator Josh Hawley is\u200b also exploring the cap proposal and \u200chas \u200dreached out to Senate offices \u2063for support. This development comes after Senator\u200c Rick\u200d Scott \u200cdiscussed a possible offset for the legislation in a call \u200cwith Speaker Johnson \u2064on Hawley&#8217;s behalf. The \u2064conversation \u200cwas a result of Hawley&#8217;s \u200dstrained relationship with Johnson over his handling of the\u2062 expansion.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE \u2013 <\/strong>The idea of placing a spending cap on an\u00a0expiring program for nuclear testing victims\u00a0is being discussed in the House as a way to address Speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike Johnson<\/a>\u2019s (R-LA) reservations about the price tag of a proposed expansion of the fund.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers from states not covered under the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, in particular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/missouri\/\">Missouri<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-mexico\/\">New Mexico<\/a>, have pressed Johnson to expand the program, which compensates those suffering from radiation-related illnesses attributed to government nuclear weapons testing or uranium mining.<\/p>\n<p>However, the speaker, like some other Republicans, has resisted the proposal due to a 10-year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crfb.org\/blogs\/new-reca-bill-would-worsen-debt\">cost estimate<\/a> of $50 to $60 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson originally planned to place a \u201cclean,\u201d two-year reauthorization on the floor this week, ahead of a Monday deadline when the program expires, but he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3021848\/mike-johnson-scraps-vote-radiation-exposure-bill-missouri-lawmaker-uproar\/\">pulled the vote<\/a> amid an uproar from the Missouri delegation, as first reported by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>His office has since been in active discussions with Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), who wants a House vote on the expansion crafted by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). His bill, a five-year extension that covers states including Missouri, New Mexico, Kentucky, and Alaska, passed the Senate in a 69-30 vote in March.<\/p>\n<p>Expansion advocates have cycled through a variety of proposals, including possible cost offsets to the program, but the idea of\u00a0capping the price tag entered the conversation\u00a0after House leadership expressed that a compromise would have to be kept under $10 billion, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. In this scenario, the program would pay out claims until the cap was hit, at which point additional funding would have to be requested from Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Four sources confirmed to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that a cap is being discussed in the House, though the proposal is not formal and there is no firm dollar value associated with it. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined at right by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., pauses before meeting with reporters to condemn former President Donald Trump\u2019s guilty conviction in a New York court last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Johnson also called President Joe Biden the worst president in American history. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It is not clear the idea of a cap will satisfy Johnson. House leadership has resisted prior offers, including offsets floated in December, when Hawley failed to get the RECA expansion included in Congress\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel\/\" title=\"Hispanic Caucus Takes Aim at African-American Veteran\u2019s Service on Key Panel\">annual defense bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But Hawley, who negotiated a revised version of the bill with Senate GOP leadership earlier this year, has begun to reach out to Senate offices to gauge their appetite for a cap proposal, according to two sources familiar with the outreach.<\/p>\n<p>The development follows Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) passing along a possible offset to the legislation in a previously unreported phone call to Johnson he placed on Hawley\u2019s behalf late last week.<\/p>\n<p>Scott, who opposes Hawley\u2019s bill and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/legislative\/LIS\/roll_call_votes\/vote1182\/vote_118_2_00075.htm\">voted against it<\/a> in March, called Johnson as a courtesy, according to one source familiar with the call. Two sources confirmed that Hawley spoke with Scott about calling Johnson on his behalf.<\/p>\n<p>The back channel conversation was due, in part, to Hawley\u2019s souring relationship with Johnson. The two spoke about the program shortly after he became speaker in October, but Hawley has since publicly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3008591\/mike-johnson-hawley-war-path-radiation-compensation\/\">and repeatedly<\/a>, criticized Johnson for opposing the bill.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, Scott is among Johnson\u2019s closest allies in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), another member of the Missouri delegation, has joined Hawley in denouncing Johnson. She issued a statement on Friday, ahead of the program lapsing, calling it \u201cabhorrent\u201d that he would allow the program to \u201cdie in his lap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt symbolizes the latest failure in an already extensive, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-maxine-waters-was-a-republican-she-would-have-been-impeached-decades-ago\/\" title=\"If Maxine Waters Was A Republican, She Would Have Been Impeached Decades Ago\">decades-long history<\/a> of government negligence regarding the Manhattan Project\u2019s radioactive waste dumped into our communities,\u201d said Bush, who represents the St. Louis area, which has struggled with nuclear waste contamination.<\/p>\n<p>A standalone bill is not the only path forward for a RECA expansion. On Thursday, Bush introduced it as an amendment to this year\u2019s annual defense bill, like Hawley did last year.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NV), who co-sponsored the radiation bill with Hawley in the Senate, has expressed new openness to a clean reauthorization, including the two-year extension supported by Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want to face those families and tell them that you let the program die?\u201d he told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> in a brief hallway interview on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley, for his part, has resisted a short-term patch as a nonstarter and is vowing to slow down consideration in the Senate if the patch comes up for a vote.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the past, expansion advocates have floated pay-fors including the idea of extending the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s authority to auction licenses for commercial use of the electromagnetic spectrum, according to two sources familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<p>However, the proposal, plus another related to the Food and Drug Administration, are unlikely to be part of current negotiations, according to one source.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The House is considering a spending cap on a program for nuclear testing victims to address Speaker Mike Johnson&#8217;s concerns about the cost of expanding the fund. This discussion particularly involves lawmakers from states not currently covered by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2262512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24156578976525-1024x592.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2262511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24156578976525-1024x592.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2262511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2262512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2262511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2262511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2262511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}