When tragedy strikes, politicians are quick to offer “thoughts and prayers.”
The sentiment — even if heartfelt and genuine — is more expedient and less risky than championing a big policy change.
When it comes to taking care of veterans who’ve been exposed to toxins while serving the nation, congressional Republicans are talking big, but not acting.
War is expensive, and as we learn with each conflict, the costs — physical, mental, moral and economic — echo for generations. As the full costs of our country’s wars manifest themselves decades later, some congressmen — including veterans from Texas — aren’t willing to pay the bill.
On March 3, the House of Representatives passed the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021, or Honoring our PACT act, an expansive bill that would ensure health care to more than 3.5 million veterans exposed to airborne toxins and burn pits.
The bill would also extend combat veterans’ eligibility for health care from five to 10 years, streamline the Veterans Administration review process, and establish a presumption of service connection for 23 illnesses and cancers related to toxic exposure. It would expand coverage for veterans who served in areas that currently don’t qualify, such as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, where service members were exposed to Agent Orange.
The vote was 256-174, with the nays coming from Republicans, including at least 40 veterans, 16 of whom served in the global war on terrorism.
While they point to the fiscal cost as a reason to vote no, such rationale is obscured behind a haze of partisanship. President Joe Biden addressed toxic exposure in his State of the Union address and supports the legislation.
District 23 U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales’ office said he and “most of his colleagues” voted against the PACT act because of the cost, as well as the potential for an increased VA claims backlog and disruption of services to veterans already in the system. Gonzales is a Navy veteran.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the legislation’s price tag to be at least $207.5 billion over 10 years with an additional $114.2 billion in discretionary spending subject to appropriation.
Yes, that’s a lot of money, but it’s dwarfed by the Department of Defense’s 2023 one-year budget request of $773 billion and the VA’s $301 billion request, let alone the $8 trillion spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Most Republicans, including Gonzales, favor the scaled-down Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act, which passed the Senate in February.
We see the PACT Act as a cost of war. It’s a bill our nation has already incurred. The interest compounds each day as more veterans are diagnosed with toxic exposure illnesses.
For the families who’ve lost loved ones and the veterans battling lung problems, rare cancers and other ailments, the bureaucratic debates and political games fall flat.
These people don’t have time to wait.
Last Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs spoke with VA Secretary Denis McDonough and a group of veterans about the PACT Act as it makes its way to a Senate vote.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the committee chair, began the session by recognizing Will Thompson, an Army veteran who died from toxic exposure injuries in December. Thompson testified to the committee in March 2021.
It was a powerful gesture. More than a few witnesses in the chamber knew Thompson.
But the best way the committee and Congress can honor Thompson and his fellow veterans is to pass the PACT Act. It should be unanimous. Thoughts and prayers are not enough.
San Antonio Express-News
