More than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans who suffered toxic exposure during their service under the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, the Biden administration announced on May 21.
Touting that milestone at a veterans’ event in Merrimack, New Hampshire, President Joe Biden said America has one sacred obligation.
“That’s to prepare those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they come home. And if they don’t come home, to care for their families. Two years ago, we took a giant step toward fulfilling that obligation when I fought for and signed the PACT Act,” he said while delivering brief remarks.
Since then, roughly 888,000 veterans and their survivors across all 50 states have received disability benefits totaling about $5.7 billion under the PACT Act, according to the White House.
The law, passed in August 2022, expanded the health care and benefits available through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to veterans who were exposed to the fumes of burn pits and other toxic substances during the line of duty.
Burn pits were commonly used by the U.S. military overseas to dispose of waste collected on military bases until 2010, when the Defense Department restricted their use to last-resort scenarios.
President Biden has often pointed to burn pits as the likely cause of the brain cancer that killed his son Beau, an Iraq war veteran, in 2015.
Noting that the issue was personal to him, he told the events’ veteran attendees: “Folks, you’ve suffered long enough. You shouldn’t have to prove that your illness came from your service. And thanks to the PACT Act, you don’t have to prove it now.”
Prior to the PACT Act’s passage, the VA rejected about 70 percent of all disability claims related to burn pit exposure. Now, the department is mandated to presume that veterans who served in certain locations during specific time frames were exposed to toxic substances and chemicals during their service.
Road to Reelection
The president’s announcement comes as he is looking to energize his base heading into the height of election season.The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is hoping to secure a second term this November. However, rising costs coupled with widespread protests over his approach to the Israel–Hamas war have become obstacles to that goal.
“We are definitely feeling it. We’re a two-person family. Our grocery bill is now over $100 a week,” Susan Garland, 47, of Elkridge, Maryland, recently told The Epoch Times.
President Biden’s support for Israel in its ongoing conflict with Hamas has drawn the ire of some among his base, who claim that Israel has committed war crimes against civilians in Gaza.
Chants often overheard at Columbia University, where the protests originated, include such anti-Biden slogans as “Genocide Joe” and “Ceasefire now or no vote.”
At the same time, concerned Jewish students have expressed disappointment with the Biden administration’s reaction to anti-Semitic attacks at their schools.
The White House has condemned such harassment as “appalling,” but the topic—and the widely felt impacts of inflation—are still likely to come up during the presidential debates ahead.
The two presidential debates agreed upon thus far are scheduled for June 27 and Sept. 10, and CNN and ABC News will host them.
Former President Donald Trump accepted two other debate offers from Fox News, NBC, and Telemundo, but those were rejected by President Biden.
President Trump has also accepted an offer from Fox News to host a vice presidential debate. President Biden’s campaign has yet to announce a position on that offer.
President Biden’s campaign, on the other hand, has accepted a vice presidential debate offer from CBS News, which the Trump campaign has yet to accept.
