Article Author:
Associated Press
Kevin Flecking
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rosie Torres of Robstown, Texas, is not a lobbyist in Washington, but has been on the road to the Capitol for about 13 years. I made it. Year after year, he knocks on Congressman's doors. Her mission is to warn and convince Iraqi and Afghan veterans that something terrible is happening as a result of their constant exposure to toxic military burns.
Torres' husband, Le Her Roy, suffers from constrictive bronchitis, a respiratory disease that narrows her airways and makes it difficult for her to breathe. Rosie is convinced it was his revelations that set fire to the pits at his base in Iraq. Despite being late, she was still unsure if she had persuaded the legislators, even though previous votes had shown the bill was going in the right direction. }
"It was still too good to be true," said Torres.
Torres was among veterans and their families camped in the Capitol last week and refused to leave until the Senate passed the bill. Final vote of 86 to 11. That vote was lopsided at the end, but was a significant victory for a movement that had been creating for years, but only gained serious traction during the current Congress.
Joe President Biden plans to sign the bill on Wednesday.
The White House ceremony was the culmination of an effort that began with the veterans themselves and their harrowing stories, and was ultimately brought to the attention of the public by comedian activist Jon Stewart to burn the pits. It was personally accepted by the president, who expressed suspicion that it had led to the death of his eldest son.
Ultimately, the bill received unanimous support from a majority of Democrats and Republicans, despite a hefty price tag estimated at approximately $280 billion over 10 years. it was done.
"Full throttle, let's get this done."
Tim Jensen, a former Marine who served in Iraq in 2004 and his 2005, also said at a rally outside the Capitol last week. He said he lost his best friend, Sgt. He believes that Frank Hazelwood fell ill from lung cancer and his two other battalion comrades from serving near burn pits.
"They were all brain and lung cancers, not typical cancers for that age group," said Jensen.
He became actively involved after a call with her Torres, who founded the advocacy group Burn Pits 360 with her husband about four years ago. about the effect they believe the wreckage has had on their lives.
What are these burns? It was big and smelly and no one wanted to breathe. Until a few years ago, they were commonly used by the military to process chemicals, tires, plastics, medical waste, human waste, and more.
Jensen, a former Marine, said a pivotal moment in seeking federal support came when Stewart joined the effort, resulting in high-profile publicity.
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"Rosie Torres and Burn Pits 360 have been working on this for over a decade, with little effect," says Jensen. "They needed a bigger push to bring it into the national conversation."
The White House then invited Daniel Robinson, widow of Sgt. First class Heath Robinson of Ohio attends Biden's State of the Union address in March. During the speech, Biden raised the possibility that being near the burn pit led to her son Beau's death.
"We don't know for sure if the burn hole is the cause of his brain tumor or the disease of so many troops," Biden said in a speech. said in "But I'm committed to finding out what I can,"
Jensen said.
"This has certainly spurred Democrats in the Senate and House to move," said Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, a senior Republican on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
On the House side, Rep. Mark Takano, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in early 2021 that support for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances would be an option. announced that it will be one of the priorities of the next parliamentary committee. That was not long after Biden took his oath of office.
California Democrat Takano recalled how he briefed the president in the House last month. He said Biden leaned over and started talking about Beau, who died of brain cancer at the age of 46. He served in Iraq for about a year in his 2008 and he in 2009.
I had a partner with President Biden," Takano said.
The legislator was keen to avoid a piecemeal approach. He did not want a law that would force veterans of one war to fight veterans of another in a battle for limited VA resources.
This bill would: It not only expands health and disability benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, but also includes provisions to further assist Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Also, a veteran exposed to water pollution at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Palomares, Spain, during one of the greatest nuclear disasters in history, and Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, where the United States conducted numerous nuclear tests. We also provide assistance to veterans exposed to radiation on atolls.
The House passed the first bill in his March. The vote was 256 to 174, with most Republicans disapproving. They mentioned the cost and strain placed on VAs that are already struggling to meet their current workloads.
"Do your duty and pass this."
A few weeks after the House vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Stewart , veterans advocate, joined Daniel Robinson for news. At her meeting, she explained what it was like to be with her husband, whose bill was named after her.
"Do your duty and get this through," she pleaded.
Schumer promised the bill would be voted on in the Senate. }
The Senate is working on its own version of the bill. Senator Jon Tester of Montana, Democratic chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the veterans group made it clear the bill was the panel's top priority.
The tester had cooperative partners in Moran of Arkansas and John Boozman of the Republican Party, and the discussion focused on helping the VA keep up with the workload.
"We were talking to the VA. …are we preparing you for failure? Is this what you can offer?" said the tester. They assured us they could, and they had to make some changes, and they did."
These changes included several benefits enhancements. This included staggering the start of , and allowing more flexibility in hiring staff. The change also helped cut tens of billions of dollars in spending from the House version, giving more Republicans reason to support the final product after it returned to the House.
The slightly reduced bill passed both houses with strong bipartisan support. But lawmakers later discovered that it contained revenue-related provisions that had to be drafted by the House, which needed to be redone due to technical modifications.
Usually a red tape, the rework was complicated by Republicans' unexpected blockage of the Burn Pit bill last month. That was shortly after Schumer announced that he had reached a deal with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on a party policy on health and climate that would be partially funded by higher taxes on businesses. Republicans were outraged by this. Veterans were also angry that their burnpit bill had been blocked, which some felt in retaliation.
and changed in Washington's oppressive humidity and thunderstorms. They had a celebratory ending last week when the Senate passed the bill after giving Republicans a chance to vote on the amendment, all in defeat.
Moran said the vote reaffirmed that the Senate could work.
He said, "I never worked or was a Senator when the Senate was working well. I missed those days." "It's a happy situation when problems and people often come together."