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TL : DR
- In the Iraq and Afghan wars, burn pits were used to dispose of all manner of waste / trash.
- Below link from the V.A. gives a primer on Burn Pits
https://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/exposures/ten-things-to-know-fact-sheet.pdf
- Some of the substances burned were: chemicals, human and medical waste, metals, aluminum, munitions, unexploded ordinance, petroleum and lubricant products, styrofoam, wood, rubber and many other things
- Troops were exposed to the fumes, which are believed to have causes / cause a wide range of health issues, including cancer. The research soo far is insufficient to determine what the impact was.
- The bill that would have removed barriers for troops qualifying for medical care, relating to Burn Pits exposure, is called the " Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021 ". The measure would boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans suffering from exposure to the burn pits that were used in Iraq and Afghanistan to incinerate waste, with troops often using jet fuel as an accelerant.
- In June both the House and Senate passed the Bill, with the Senate voting 84-14 in favor, but owing to some issue with the language in the Bill it had to return to the Senate for a procedural vote. This time around 25 Republicans who had earlier supported the Bill voted against it.
- Joe Biden is a strong supporter of the Bill. He believes the Burn pits may have been a factor in his son Beau's terminal cancer
- Repub. Senator Toomey opposed the Bill in June and now because of how the money is accounted for - from being discretionary to mandatory.
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The bill, known as the Honoring Our PACT Act, passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support in June, but due to a snag in the bill's language, it needed to go back and pass the House and Senate again. On Wednesday evening, 25 Republican senators reversed their support from June and voted no on a procedural vote to advance the legislation.
Veterans have come home with a number of illnesses, including terminal cancers, but have been forced to argue to the Department of Veterans Affairs their illnesses were related to burn pit exposure. The legislation would have removed the burden of proof from veterans and their families by presuming a number of conditions could be related to exposure to toxic fumes from burn pits.
President Joe Biden is a strong supporter of the bill. At the State of the Union in March, he called on Congress to take action on burn pits, which he believes may have been a factor in his son's Beau's terminal brain cancer.
---
Criticism of the Republicans from veterans, Sen. Tester and John Stewart
At a press conference Thursday in front of the U.S. Capitol initially scheduled in anticipation of the bill passing the Senate, Veterans Service Organizations and sponsors of the legislation decried the sudden about-face from senators who just last month voted in favor of the bill.
"I have never seen anything that's happened like what happened yesterday and what compounds it and makes it that much more difficult is we in essence yesterday took benefits away from the people who have been impacted by war – that we sent off to war," Democratic Sen. Jon Tester from Montana said at the press conference.
"This is an embarrassment to the Senate, to the country, to the founders and all that they profess to hold dear. And if this is America first, then America is f*****," Stewart said.
---
Republican Senator Pat Toomey gives his reason for voting NO in June and now.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania voted no in June and Wednesday because of how the money is accounted for, though he supports the purpose of the legislation.
Toomey objects to the the bill because it includes language that would move money from discretionary to mandatory spending, freeing up about $400 billion in discretionary spending for anything, including programs unrelated to veterans.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-burn-pits-legislation-veterans-jon-stewart/
Because of a parliamentary glitch involving a tax provision, it was sent back to the House, where it easily passed. But more than two dozen Republican senators, led by Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, voted Wednesday to delay its passage in order to cut some of the mandatory spending contained in the bill.
"My concern about this bill has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill," Toomey said, voicing his opposition to what he described as a "budgetary gimmick" that would allow $400 billion in additional spending.
https://news.yahoo.com/total-bull-o...ey-senate-blocks-burn-pit-bill-170939445.html
- In the Iraq and Afghan wars, burn pits were used to dispose of all manner of waste / trash.
- Below link from the V.A. gives a primer on Burn Pits
https://www.publichealth.va.gov/docs/exposures/ten-things-to-know-fact-sheet.pdf
- Some of the substances burned were: chemicals, human and medical waste, metals, aluminum, munitions, unexploded ordinance, petroleum and lubricant products, styrofoam, wood, rubber and many other things
- Troops were exposed to the fumes, which are believed to have causes / cause a wide range of health issues, including cancer. The research soo far is insufficient to determine what the impact was.
- The bill that would have removed barriers for troops qualifying for medical care, relating to Burn Pits exposure, is called the " Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021 ". The measure would boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans suffering from exposure to the burn pits that were used in Iraq and Afghanistan to incinerate waste, with troops often using jet fuel as an accelerant.
- In June both the House and Senate passed the Bill, with the Senate voting 84-14 in favor, but owing to some issue with the language in the Bill it had to return to the Senate for a procedural vote. This time around 25 Republicans who had earlier supported the Bill voted against it.
- Joe Biden is a strong supporter of the Bill. He believes the Burn pits may have been a factor in his son Beau's terminal cancer
- Repub. Senator Toomey opposed the Bill in June and now because of how the money is accounted for - from being discretionary to mandatory.
----
The bill, known as the Honoring Our PACT Act, passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support in June, but due to a snag in the bill's language, it needed to go back and pass the House and Senate again. On Wednesday evening, 25 Republican senators reversed their support from June and voted no on a procedural vote to advance the legislation.
Veterans have come home with a number of illnesses, including terminal cancers, but have been forced to argue to the Department of Veterans Affairs their illnesses were related to burn pit exposure. The legislation would have removed the burden of proof from veterans and their families by presuming a number of conditions could be related to exposure to toxic fumes from burn pits.
President Joe Biden is a strong supporter of the bill. At the State of the Union in March, he called on Congress to take action on burn pits, which he believes may have been a factor in his son's Beau's terminal brain cancer.
---
Criticism of the Republicans from veterans, Sen. Tester and John Stewart
At a press conference Thursday in front of the U.S. Capitol initially scheduled in anticipation of the bill passing the Senate, Veterans Service Organizations and sponsors of the legislation decried the sudden about-face from senators who just last month voted in favor of the bill.
"I have never seen anything that's happened like what happened yesterday and what compounds it and makes it that much more difficult is we in essence yesterday took benefits away from the people who have been impacted by war – that we sent off to war," Democratic Sen. Jon Tester from Montana said at the press conference.
"This is an embarrassment to the Senate, to the country, to the founders and all that they profess to hold dear. And if this is America first, then America is f*****," Stewart said.
---
Republican Senator Pat Toomey gives his reason for voting NO in June and now.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania voted no in June and Wednesday because of how the money is accounted for, though he supports the purpose of the legislation.
Toomey objects to the the bill because it includes language that would move money from discretionary to mandatory spending, freeing up about $400 billion in discretionary spending for anything, including programs unrelated to veterans.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-burn-pits-legislation-veterans-jon-stewart/
Because of a parliamentary glitch involving a tax provision, it was sent back to the House, where it easily passed. But more than two dozen Republican senators, led by Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, voted Wednesday to delay its passage in order to cut some of the mandatory spending contained in the bill.
"My concern about this bill has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill," Toomey said, voicing his opposition to what he described as a "budgetary gimmick" that would allow $400 billion in additional spending.
https://news.yahoo.com/total-bull-o...ey-senate-blocks-burn-pit-bill-170939445.html
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