Political Quotes

“I want to thank my colleagues who have worked with us on a bipartisan basis to bring the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 to the floor for a vote. That is a mouthful. The PACT Act is the way it is known more colloquially. The PACT Act is a profoundly significant measure. It is a milestone in our dealing with the health and benefits that our veterans deserve. We know that the modern battlefield is filled with toxins and poison that could cause grave injury, and many of the afflictions that result from those toxins or chemicals are manifested only years after a veteran leaves Active-Duty service. In fact, cancer, hypertension, skin disease--the list is long, and so are the number of years when the illnesses can arrive. They are latent. They are hidden. Like many wounds of war, they are invisible at the time. But these brave men and women who serve us on the modern battlefield experience them at higher rates because there are more of those toxins and chemicals. We have seen them, for example, in the burn pit. One of my sons, a Marine Corps officer in Afghanistan, saw them firsthand, described them to me, and worried about the effects on him. So far he is fine, but the years ahead are an unknown for him and for countless other men and women who may have been exposed. In fact, they may not even know that they have been exposed to these chemicals and toxins.…”