Political Quotes

“I rise today in strong support of the PACT legislation that we are now considering. As a former chair and longtime member of the Senate Veterans' Committee, one of my highest priorities is to make certain that every veteran in this country, people who have put their lives on the line to defend us, get the quality healthcare and benefits that they have deserved. This is an important piece of legislation, and I want to congratulate Senator Tester, chair of the committee, and Ranking Member Moran for their hard work on this. This legislation will improve healthcare, research, and resources for veterans who were exposed to deadly toxic substances and environmental hazards, including open-air burn pits, during their military service. This legislation will finally recognize and treat toxic exposure as a cost of war for the millions of veterans Congress has ignored for far too long. And we do that by adding 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to the VA's list of service presumptions. This will mean that some 3.5 million veterans will now be eligible for VA healthcare, and that is very, very important. It goes without saying that in the wealthiest country on Earth, where we spend more on defense than the next 11 nations combined, no veteran should be without the healthcare that they are, in my view, entitled to.…”