Matt Cartwright: “I could not be prouder that the Honoring our PACT Act includes my bill, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, and let me tell…”

“I could not be prouder that the Honoring our PACT Act includes my bill, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, and let me tell you why I wrote this bill. Between 1953 and 1987, two generations of marines and marine families and employees at Camp Lejeune were poisoned by the water at Camp Lejeune. Poisoned by water that by today's standards in health, 240 to 3,400 times the level of acceptable toxins was in that water. This was water that the marines drank. It was in the mess halls. It was water they showered with. It was water that they drank out from the water buffaloes and filled their canteens from while on exercise. This is water that was poisoned, and it not only poisoned the water of marines but also the marine families and the employees at Camp Lejeune. Mr. Speaker, when marines volunteer for Marine duty, they know they are up for something dangerous. They know that the Marines pride themselves on being the first to fight. They know they are going to be in harm's way at some point, but when they went to Camp Lejeune for combat training, they didn't realize what their real enemy was going to be. It was going to be leukemia, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, aplastic anemia, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Parkinson's disease. Not only the marines, but their families were subject to this from the water.…”