For six years, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has been attempting to expand federal compensation to Idaho and other states for those sickened by Nevada nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and '60s.

Last week, Crapo introduced a resolution designating Jan. 27, 2012, "as a national day of remembrance for Ameri-
cans who, during the Cold War, worked and lived downwind from nuclear testing sites and were adversely affected by the radiation exposure generated by the above ground nuclear weapons testing."

The first Nevada weapons test was on Jan. 27, 1951.

Crapo's original cosponsors are Idaho GOP Sen. Jim Risch and Democrats Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall of New Mexico, and Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

Crapo hopes the resolution will bring attention to a bill to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, said his spokesman, Lindsay Nothern. "Obviously one of the additional reasons for this recognition is to bring more attention, and hopefully co-sponsors, to the RECA bill we’ve introduced every session," Nothern said Monday.

The same six senators introduced S. 791 in April.

Crapo has been working on legislation since 2005, after Idahoans who believed they were sickened by radiation convinced the National Academy of Sciences to hold a hearing in Boise.

Bipartisan bills have been introduced in the past, but the 2011 version is the most ambitious yet. Current law provides $50,000 "compassionate" payments to residents in 21 counties Utah, Nevada and Arizona that contract cancers associated with fallout from bomb testing.

The bill would expand coverage to seven states and boost payments to $150,000, equalizing them with uranium workers and on-site employees.

The remembrance resolution was introduced late Thursday. With Friday being a federal holiday, the measure doesn't yet have a number. But the resolution includes the following language:

“Whereas on January 27, 1951, the first nuclear weapons test in the United States commenced at a site known as the Nevada Proving Ground, located approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada;

Whereas many Americans who, during the Cold War, worked and lived downwind from nuclear testing sites (referred to in this preamble as “downwinders”) were adversely affected by the radiation exposure generated by the above ground nuclear weapons testing, and some of the downwinders sickened as a result of the radiation exposure;

Whereas the downwinders paid a high price for the development of a nuclear weapons program for the benefit of the United States; and

Whereas the downwinders deserve to be recognized for the sacrifice they have made for the defense of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) designates January 27, 2012, as a national day of remembrance for many Americans who, during the Cold War, worked and lived downwind from nuclear testing sites and were adversely affected by the radiation exposure generated by the above ground nuclear weapons testing; and

(2) encourages the people of the United States to support and participate in appropriate ceremonies, programs, and other activities to commemorate January 27, 2012.”

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