Salud Ortiz Carbajal: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as a proud marine veteran and the Representative for more than 34,000…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, as a proud marine veteran and the Representative for more than 34,000 of my fellow veterans across California's 24th Congressional District, I am proud to see the real impact that the Honoring our PACT Act has had for veterans and their families across the United States. Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, we came together with President Joe Biden to pass the largest and most significant expansion of veterans benefits in more than 30 years. Since then, we have seen more than 1.5 million claims filed for toxic exposures and other health risks resulting from service in Vietnam, the Gulf war, and wars of the post-9/11 era. More than 2,000 of those claims have come from veterans in my own region. We cannot give up the momentum on this important bill. While we have seen so many already utilizing these expanded benefits, current estimates suggest that more than 5 million veterans were exposed to some amount of toxic substances during their military service. That is why I am encouraging all veterans who submitted an intent to file last summer make sure they are following through and submitting an actual claim as soon as possible to ensure that our veterans can get backdated benefits to the date that this bill was signed into law.…”