SENATE REPUBLICANS’ CRUELTY ON FULL DISPLAY AS THEY HOLD VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE HOSTAGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 1, 2022
PRESS CONTACT: [email protected]

SENATE REPUBLICANS’ CRUELTY ON FULL DISPLAY AS THEY HOLD VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE HOSTAGE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, Senate Republicans blocked essential health care funding for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits while serving our nation abroad. The PACT Act would deliver funding to treat a range of illnesses, including cancers, fulfilling a promise to veterans who sacrificed their health and safety in order to protect our nation. Senate Republicans showed their true colors with this vote – putting petty partisan grievances ahead of keeping our nation’s promises to our veterans. They clearly cannot be trusted to stand up for America’s veterans and their families.

Read more on Senate Republicans’ vote against veterans’ health care:

Washington Post: Veterans call rejection of toxic-exposure bill ‘a slap in the face’
“We fought for this country freely, and we expect now that people will fight for us and fight for our basic health care,” said Samantha Turner, an Army veteran who served near burn pits in Kuwait. Turner, who has sleep apnea, now uses a machine to breathe at night. “We’re not political pawns,” she added.

CBS: Veterans shocked burn pit legislation fails to advance in Senate
“We make a promise to people who serve in the military that we’ll support them if they get wounded,” Morosky said. “Passing the PACT Act today would have finally kept that promise for veterans with toxic wounds. But instead, that promise is still being broken.”

CNN: ‘Stab in the back’: Iraq war veteran reacts after GOP blocks burn pit bill
“It’s a stab in the back, it really is. Because you’re constantly saying ‘we support our troops,’ you know. They’ll be tweeting out, you know, ‘remember everybody deployed on Fridays’ and ‘wear red,’ but when it actually comes to something that matters for our health care, they turned their backs on us. That hurts more than anything.”

WKYC: Veterans rally in Twinsburg for PACT Act after legislation blocked by GOP Senators
“It means fellow veterans are not going to get the health care that they’ve earned, that the government promised them when they served.”

WSAV: ‘Apparently, their word means nothing to us,’ veteran criticizes failure to pass burn pit benefits bill
“I took these people for their word. Apparently, their word means nothing to us,” said James Duncan, a Lowcountry veteran. […] “Of all the things in this world you could mess with, why would you mess with the people who risked it all for you to be put in those positions you are in,” Duncan said.

News 9: Veterans Protest In DC After Lawmakers Reverse Position On Burn Pit Legislation
“Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, 9/11 veterans, what we all have in common today [is] we just got screwed by 41 senators,” said Tom Porter, Afghanistan veteran.

###