As 'Oppenheimer' leads Oscar nominees, Hawley wants spotlight on nuclear testing victims
WASHINGTON − Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is pushing for the Oscars to acknowledge victims of nuclear testing after the Academy announced that "Oppenheimer" leads in nominations.
Hawley sent a letter Friday urging the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to include programming that pays tribute to the victims of nuclear testing ahead of the 2024 Academy Awards.
"Oppenheimer," directed by Christopher Nolan, chronicles the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist whose stewardship of the Manhattan Project led to the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project's scientists built and deployed two bombs that were dropped on Japanese cities, leading to the country's surrender in World War II.
"Oppenheimer" leads this year with 13 nominations.
"The 'Oppenheimer' film tells a compelling story of these test programs. But it does not tell the story of the Americans left behind—still reckoning with the health and financial consequences of America’s nuclear research, after all these years," Hawley wrote in the letter.
The Missouri lawmaker pointed to Americans, like those in his home state, who suffer from cancer or other medical conditions because of radiation exposure from the radioactive waste that was not cleaned up as part of the Manhattan Project.
"Congress stands poised to allow what limited compensation the government has offered victims to expire. That cannot be allowed to happen," he wrote. "These victims deserve justice through fair compensation from their government—and you can help by telling their stories."
Hawley has long been an advocate for those impacted by government-caused nuclear contamination.
In December, Hawley called upon his colleagues in Congress to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in the 2024 annual defense spending bill. The legislation compensates victims of government-caused radiation in the St. Louis region.
He created a procedural hurdle as the Senate worked to pass the defense bill and voted against the bill after the compensation program was not included in its final version.