May 2022 — M2CC Newsletter

28 | M2CC - News www.m2cc.us MAY 2022 EDITION
exposed to Agent Orange. Specifically, it
would add Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam,
American Samoa and Johnston Atoll to the
list of places where veterans were exposed to
Agent Orange and so can get coverage.
Deal for Sweeping Toxic Exposure
Bill Reached in Senate
Lawmakers have reached a bipartisan
agreement on a historic expansion of health
care and disability benefits for millions of
veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during
their military service.
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman
Jon Tester, D-Mont., and committee ranking
member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced
in a Wednesday morning statement that they
have reached an agreement on what they called
"the most comprehensive toxic exposure
package the Senate has ever delivered to
veterans in this country's history."
"For far too long, our nation's veterans have
been living with chronic illnesses as a result
of exposures during their time in uniform,"
they added. "Today, we're taking necessary
steps to right this wrong with our proposal
that'll provide veterans and their families with
the health care and benefits they have earned
and deserve."
The bill could help an estimated 3.5 million
veterans who were exposed to burn pits and
other airborne hazards while serving to get
medical coverage and other benefits they
have often been denied under Department of
Veterans Affairsarguments that there was not
enough evidence linking their diseases to their
military service.
The full text of the agreement was not
immediately released, but a summary included
in Tester and Moran's news release indicates it
retains some of the key provisions of a wideranging
House-passed toxic exposure bill,
such as designating 23 diseases, including
hypertension, as presumed to be linked to
burn pits and other airborne hazards.
The bill, now named the Sergeant First Class
Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act in
honor of a veteran who died of lung cancer
after being exposed to burn pits in Iraq, would
also create a framework for establishing future
presumptions of service connection related to
toxic exposure, according to the summary.
The House passed its sweeping toxic exposure
bill in a 256-174 vote in March. But most
Republicans bristled at its $208 billion price
tag and opposed the House legislation.
A cost estimate for the new agreement was not
immediately released.
In response to critics of the price, senators had
previously planned to address toxic exposure
in three prongs, the first of which was easily
approved by the upper chamber in February.
But veterans advocates decried the piecemeal
approach, and President Joe Biden made
passing comprehensive legislation one of his
top priorities.
Biden, who believes his son Beau's fatal brain
cancer may have been caused by burn pits in
Iraq and Kosovo, said in a statement last month
that if Congress passes a comprehensive bill,
he "will sign it immediately."
Right now, the VA makes case-by-case
decisions on most claims by post-9/11 veterans
that their illnesses were caused by toxic
exposure, requiring vets to produce proof their
disease is connected with their service. Some
illnesses are already presumed to be linked to
service, including asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis
and several respiratory-related cancers.
In addition to expanding benefits for post-9/11
veterans, the agreement announced Wednesday
broadens coverage for Vietnam-era veterans
The agreement also includes provisions to
strengthen federal research on toxic exposure,
increase toxic exposure-related training for
VA personnel, establish 31 new VA health
care facilities in 19 states, and invest more
money in VA claims processing and the VA
workforce, according to the summary.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y., announced from the Senate floor
that he "strongly" supports the agreement
and plans to have his chamber vote on it the
week of June 6, the first week back from the
Senate's Memorial Day recess.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman
Mark Takano, D-Calif., also said in a statement
he was "elated" at the agreement -- indicating
it will pass both chambers of Congress and
become law.
"I'm proud that both the House and Senate
have now taken monumental steps forward
to advance this historic legislation, and I look
forward to continuing to work with Sen. Tester
and Sen. Moran on the final details to ensure
this vital legislation heads to President Biden's
desk without delay," Takano said. "We cannot
let cost or implementation hurdles get in the
way of making good on our promise -- toxicexposed
veterans do not have time to wait."
Advocates who have been pushing the Senate
to take up the House bill and knocking
Republican opposition hailed the agreement
Wednesday.
Rosie Torres, who cofounded Burn Pits 360
in 2009 with her husband, Le Roy Torres,
an Armyveteran who developed a rare lung
disease, constrictive bronchiolitis, as a result
of his deployment to Iraq, called the agreement
a "victory" for all veterans who have died as
a result of illnesses caused by environmental
pollutants
"After 13 years of Burn Pits 360 veterans
and families knocking on doors and being
'boots on the ground' in Washington, we are
encouraged by the progress," Torres told
Military.com. "We are seeing Congress stand
on the side of justice in support of our nation's
warfighters."