I no longer have words to express the frustration and anger I feel after Senate Republicans blocked the PACT Act.@jonstewart speaks for me as a burn pit veteran.

Please listen to him.pic.twitter.com/XesB4k7RGC

— Ted Corcoran (RedTRaccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) July 28, 2022

The House passed the PACT Act by a 342-88 vote on July 13. about a month after the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 84-14.

The Senate had to retake the bill up because the House passed some minor changes in its version.

The legislation adds 23 toxic and burn pit exposure conditions to the Department of Veterans Affairs database, while expanding care for post-9/11 veterans who were exposed to the burn pits.

The burn pits were used for the combustion of medical waste, human waste and other waste needed for disposal. Exposures to those toxins can lead to asthma, rhinitis and cancer.

Health issues due to use Agent Orange

It also opens up care for veterans in the Vietnam-war era who were exposed to Agent Orange in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Johnston Atoll.

Effects of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people

No one has been held accountable in a court of law for chemical warfare and committing a crime against humanity. Unimaginable scale of dispersing 19 million gallons of herbicide in 9,141 missions over Vietnam.

'Sapere aude'