Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors meeting this Saturday
TAMUNING, Guam—The Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors will host its annual general membership meeting and drive on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at the Dededo Senior Citizen Center from 9am to 2pm. The meeting is open to the public.
PARS is a 20-year-old non-profit organization that has been advocating since its inception for the inclusion of Guam as a “downwinder” area under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The RECA program will provide $150,000 and medical benefits for eligible downwinders who were present in Guam from 1946 to 1962 and have been diagnosed with one of the cancers associated with radiation exposure.
Lt. Bert Schreiber, a retired United States Navy, provided a sworn affidavit stating that measuring scales revealed that Guam’s radiation exposure was “off the chart” during nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. Relative information to the exposure remained classified until the 1990s. PARS president Robert N. Celestial discovered the unclassified documents and pursued the affidavit from Lt. Schreiber.
In 2002, the National Academies of Science concluded in a published report that Guam qualifies as downwinder under RECA.
In July, 2023, the US Senate adopted S.Amdt 1058 to the Senate’s FY 2023 NDAA. This amendment expands “downwinder” eligibility to Guam and other states and extends the RECA program another 19 years.
On Aug. 8, 2023, the 37th Guam Legislature adopted Resolution No. 171-37 (LS) expressing their support for the passage of RECA Amendments of 2023, S.1751 and H.R.4426 to the final FY 2024 NDAA by the 118th Congress. The amendments include the people of Guam as “downwinders” of the U.S. Pacific nuclear test sites, extend the claims period, and improve compensation and benefits.
In July, 2024, RECA will sunset if Congress does not take action.
Registration for the PARS General Membership Meeting for members and nonmembers can be done on-site at the Dededo Senior Citizens Center or online through the following link: https://forms.gle/vHR2FnrTBfVYzTZB9.
A membership fee of $20.00 will be collected onsite, however, membership is not required to attend the meeting. (PR)
PARS
