Vet Health Bill Biden Personal Victory 08/10 06:06

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- As President Joe Biden rattled off policy proposals in 
this year's State of the Union address, he hit an emotional note when talking 
about veterans who suffer from cancer after serving on military bases where 
toxic smoke billowed from burning trash.

   "One of those soldiers was my son Maj. Beau Biden," he said.

   The president was careful to avoid drawing a direct line between the burn 
pits and his son's fatal cancer, but he left no doubt that he believes there's 
a connection. The tragic death from seven years ago makes a ceremony Wednesday, 
when Biden plans to sign legislation expanding federal health care for 
veterans, among the most personal moments for him since taking office.

   Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, said Biden was a driving force behind the measure, which passed last 
week.

   "He was continually pushing because whether Beau died of this or not, I 
think Joe thinks that it had some impact, and so he wanted this fixed," Tester 
said. "And because he thinks it was the right thing to do. So different 
president, different set of priorities, this would have probably never 
happened."

   Burn pits were used in Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of chemicals, cans, 
tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste. However, 70% of disability 
claims involving exposure to the pits were denied by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.

   The legislation will direct officials to assume that certain respiratory 
illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit exposure, helping veterans get 
disability payments without having to prove the illness was the result of their 
service.

   "Veterans who have been sickened to the point of being unable to work, 
unable to take care of their families, won't have to spend that time fighting 
the government to get the healthcare they earned," said Jeremy Butler, head of 
the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "This is monumental."

   Butler is expected to attend the ceremony, along with Le Roy and Rosie 
Torres, husband and wife advocates for veterans health care who started the 
organization Burn Pits 360. Le Roy developed constrictive bronchitis after 
serving in Iraq, making breathing difficult.

   Biden will be introduced by Danielle and Brielle Robinson, the wife and 
daughter of Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died of cancer two years ago. 
The legislation is named for Heath, and Danielle attended Biden's State of the 
Union address as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.

   Although the provision involving burn pits has garnered the most attention, 
other health care services will be expanded as well.

   Veterans who have served since the Sept. 11 attacks will have a decade to 
sign up for VA health care, double the current five years.

   And there's more help for veterans from the Vietnam War. The legislation 
adds hypertension to list of ailments that are presumed to be caused by 
exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide used by the U.S. military to clear 
vegetation.

   In addition, veterans who served during the war in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, 
Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll will also be considered to have been 
exposed to the chemical.

   The legislation is considered to be the largest expansion of veterans health 
care in more than three decades, but it became an unlikely political football 
shortly before it passed.

   On the day that the Senate was expected to grant it final approval, 
Republicans unexpectedly blocked it. Veterans who had traveled to Washington 
for a moment of triumph were devastated.

   "All the veterans were down there because they were expecting to celebrate," 
Butler said. "And then they were absolutely stabbed in the back."

   Republicans said they were concerned about technical changes to how the 
legislation was funded. Democrats accused them of throwing a fit because they 
were unhappy about a separate deal to advance Biden's domestic agenda on 
climate change, taxes and prescription drugs.

   Instead of going home, some veterans began holding what they called a "fire 
watch" outside the Capitol, an impromptu vigil to keep public pressure on the 
Senate.

   They stayed around the clock, despite the stifling summer heat and 
torrential thunderstorms. Jon Stewart, the comedian who has advocated for 
veterans, joined them as well. Biden wanted to go but couldn't because he was 
isolating with a coronavirus infection, so he spoke to the demonstrators in a 
video call when VA Secretary Denis McDonough dropped off pizza.

   Days after the demonstration began, the Senate held another vote, and the 
measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

   Veterans were in the gallery watching the vote take place.

   "Every single person I was with was bawling. Just bawling," said Matt 
Zeller, a former Army captain who was among the demonstrators. "I cried for a 
solid five minutes."