On Oct. 15, it will have been exactly 34 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) into law, providing partial compensation to Utahns who were sickened by nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of us know friends and family members who developed cancers and died due to exposure to our government’s nuclear program. For many, the RECA program has been a lifeline.

But now, on its 34th anniversary, the RECA program has officially expired. And our senators and Congress members are nowhere to be found. Why? Now is the time for our representatives to step up. They must support the renewal and expansion of the RECA program to give justice to their constituents.

Since it was signed into law, the RECA program has been too limited, covering only a handful of counties in southern Utah, southwestern Nevada and northern Arizona. Far too many communities were excluded, including those along the Wasatch Front in Ogden, Logan, Provo and Salt Lake City — all areas that studies show were heavily impacted by nuclear fallout decades ago. Fallout does not recognize county and state boundaries, nor congressional districts.

Since RECA’s passage in 1990, evidence has shown much more about who was harmed by our government’s nuclear program, including how much further radioactive fallout from above-ground testing spread, how the uranium industry endangered workers, and how nuclear waste was negligently and illegally dumped in several U.S. communities. In addition, over the decades, medical costs have risen dramatically, making cancer care devastatingly costly.

Affected community members and a coalition of bipartisan members of Congress have advocated for a new RECA bill that expands and updates the program. This time, the bill would cover the entire state of Utah, not just a few counties, as well as other western states that were harmed. And it would adjust compensation levels for 30 years of inflation. This legislation passed the U.S. Senate in March 69-30 with a strong bipartisan supermajority. But strangely enough, Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney voted against it. Again, why?

Since March, the Senate bill has languished in the House of Representatives awaiting Speaker Mike Johnson to schedule a vote. He claims that the cost is a concern, but what about the cost to thousands of Utah families who have borne these medical expenses themselves? We never were warned of exposure. As one ally says, “If it the government broke it, the government should fix it.”

But there has been some hope in Washington, D.C. At the end of September, advocates from Utah and other states traveled to our nation’s capital and learned that negotiations with the speaker are ongoing. But one big obstacle remains: our own representatives from Utah.

Sens. Lee and Romney, and Reps. Owens, Maloy, Moore and Curtis have failed to support the Senate bill. It makes no sense. This legislation could help tens of thousands of Utah families. Why oppose what would benefit their own constituents? If they get on board, life-saving compensation funds could be flowing to cancer victims in our state by the end of the year.

Excluded communities have waited decades for justice as we continue to watch loved ones get sick and die with no help from the government that put them in harm’s way. Our numbers are dwindling. It’s time that our delegation stops resisting reasonable efforts to expand compensation to the entire state of Utah and to other communities who have suffered the lethal effects of radiation exposure.

As election day approaches, we must make sure our delegation hears our voices. To our delegation: You have the power and the unique responsibility to ensure that justice is finally served. You can save us. It’s time you do your job and represent the people who put you in office.

Award-winning writer and downwinder Mary Dickson is an internationally recognized advocate of nuclear weapons survivors. She has written and spoken extensively on the human toll of nuclear testing. She is currently in residence as the community practitioner in the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program at the University of Utah.