Senate Republicans Fold, Help Pass Veterans Health Bill After Blocking It

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The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to expand health care and disability benefits to millions of veterans — less than a week after more than two dozen Republicans blocked it and drew outrage from the veterans’ community, comedian Jon Stewart and others.

The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or the PACT Act, passed in a 86-11 vote. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Mighty quiet about this here. I searched and saw nothing on it, just like the abortion story came kind of late.

I understand

Anyway, it looks like they got scared at the backlash. The veteran's groups and the like. How they could diss those great Americans who risk their lives for us for petty political reasons was and is despicable.

It should have passed the Senate last week. A similar version of the PACT Act passed the Senate in June, in an 84-14 vote. It’s not particularly controversial: It would allow soldiers, sailors and airmen exposed to pits of burnt waste in combat zones to be covered by the Veterans Affairs health care system for related illnesses. Many of these vets got sick from exposure to burn pits during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

a reply to: peaceinoutz

It probably had to do with the 400b in spending that had nothing to do with vets. In the end them narrative fed to the vets was that they conservatives were the bad guys and the liberal side yelled the loudest. I am so sick of all the bills packed full of nonsense that has nothing to do with the actual bill being voted in.

a reply to: RickyD

It's about the veterans who risk their lives for America. Not political maneuvering over their dead and sick bodies they get while serving.

a reply to: RickyD

Yet the democrats will be "shocked" when stagflation continues like in the 1970's.

Spend spend spend, then tax tax tax its all they know how to do.

The fact they didnt put forth a clean bill to help the vets suffering from the burn pits pisses me off to no end, dont know what else I can do beside never vote for republicans or democrats.

originally posted by: peaceinoutz
a reply to: RickyD

It's about the veterans who risk their lives for America. Not political maneuvering over their dead and sick bodies they get while serving.

I am preserving this bit of stupidity for posterity.

BOTH PARTIES HAVE STOOD on their bodies for decades, neither is better they say honor vets then crap on us daily by not doing their duty and fixing the VA issues. By starting wars we never should have been in and cutting and running when it gets tough politically destroying everything that had been accomplished and pissing on our sacrifices.

Then when we try to get compensated after our careers are over we have to get lawyers to fight through the mess that is the VA that they refuse to fix.

So spare me your fake false outrage.

a reply to: peaceinoutz
If it were about vets (no need to add the emotional qualifier) there wouldn't have been 400b in spending that had nothing to so with vets in a bill about helping vets would there? Funny how you ignore that part...

a reply to: Irishhaf
Very much agree here. Both sides are at fault for this mess and neither side has seemed to care one bit. To them a veterans bill is nothing but a vehicle to gain something they want off the backs of people who already gave more than their fair share.

a reply to: peaceinoutz

Did you read the bill? I mean the original bill? the one that puts blank checks on the billions that were supposed to be for vets and the extra 400b pork for the democrats, because let's face it, with a blank check you actually will never know how much of the billions will go to vets at all if any.

Yep, democrats cannot pass a darn bill to help Americans or vets without having the advantage of looting the taxpayer for their own benefits.

They are scamming the vets and the taxpayer, the Republicans that voted for this crap are as dirty as the democrats themselves, if the bill did not change that means Republicans will get blank checks on the bill and the vets will get nothing but crap.

originally posted by: peaceinoutz
a reply to: RickyD

It's about the veterans who risk their lives for America. Not political maneuvering over their dead and sick bodies they get while serving.

First time looking at bills?

It's never about 1 thing. Its always about how much extra pork and BS they can cram into a bill.

a reply to: peaceinoutz

Why do they only care about vets during election years?

a reply to: JinMI

Nah I know this is SOP for these scumbags. Its been so over since I can remember...which may be why I don't always point its out because it this point its a given. Just happens that this particular bill was being held up by the conservatives over it...but ofc they caved...wonder if they were able to add some pork of their own in exchange for passing the bill.

Seems to me as if that last guy who was an orange devil incarnate was able to do quite a bit for the veterans w/o bankrupting middle class americans and making the poor poorer.

If all that virtue weren't reserved for signaling, we might be able to actually help people in need and the environment to boot.

a reply to: RickyD


As I understand it, Toomey wanted to address the funding of the bill. The dems wrote it to be funded by mandatory funding while Toomey and other Repubs wanted it to be funded by discretionary spending.

Is that right? Was that the objection by those Republican Senators? I can understand that. They want fiscal responsibility. Fine. The possible expansion of 4 billion was built into the mandatory spending limit so that the funding would not have to undergo yearly congressional budget debates over discretionary funding but would be locked in to automatic budgetary funding .

And granted, the bill is written so that some vets, vets only, might receive these benefits for ailments not related to the burn pits but is that enough to deny those that were the coverage they deserve?

I think not, as apparently enough Republican Senators who changed back their vote when Toomeys amendment failed to pass and only 11 continued to vote against it. And so what if veteran Jack has asthma and the case can be made that it did not arise due to chemicals encountered while in service. Because who is to say that it wasn't. Jacks a vet . Let's give him medical coverage in either event. He's a vet.

Is this the one that builds the resort in Florida (to try and stump Trump) and the soccer field ?
Another pork filled bill in which the money is diverted to the DNC to pad their money for the upcoming midterms ?
Methinks I am spot on .

There were some very angry people down at the VFW. We won't forget who tried to screw us but relented a little to late.

It's almost as if the GOP wants to lose the midterms....first Kansas and now this...

originally posted by: olaru12
There were some very angry people down at the VFW. We won't forget who tried to screw us but relented a little to late.

It's almost as if the GOP wants to lose the midterms....first Kansas and now this...

Most see it for what it is .
A Democrat ploy to increase their coffers for midterms under the guise of a bill to "help" veterans .

"There are none so blind as those that will just not see" - various .

And the Republicans fell for it?

LOL! How dumb are Republicans to give away 400 BILLION DOLLARS to the Democrats? That's a rhetorical question.

a reply to: Gothmog

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
And the Republicans fell for it?

LOL! How dumb are Republicans to give away 400 BILLION DOLLARS to the Democrats? That's a rhetorical question.

a reply to: Gothmog

Public pressure.
How ignorant must one be not to realize that ?

Your turn .

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: peaceinoutz

Why do they only care about vets during election years?

I know the GOP doesn’t care about them through this vicious vote out of political vindictiveness.

They changed out of fear of the political consequences.

That’s all everybody knows.


Here is some history of the Bill

kansasreflector.com...

The 86-11 vote on The PACT Act, named for the late Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson of the Ohio National Guard, sends the bill to President Joe Biden for his signature. The 11 votes against the bill all came from Republicans, including Mike Crapo of Idaho, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Toomey.

Biden, who has repeatedly called on Congress to address the lack of protections for veterans and their families, is expected to sign the legislation.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, urged senators to support the package ahead of the floor vote, saying the legislation was assembled in a transparent manner without any surprises.

“I’d ask my fellow senators when they come to the floor and vote — think about the veterans that are standing outside the Capitol out here, think about the veterans in your home state, think about the veterans that you met while they were on active duty on your CoDels and remember them, and do the right thing,” Tester said, referring to congressional delegations that travel to war zones.

Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, the ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, also urged support for the measure, saying it would “provide long overdue health care and benefits to the 3.5 million post 9/11 veterans who were exposed to burn pits” as well as health care for “Vietnam veterans, and those who served in Southeast Asia suffering from the exposure to Agent Orange.”

Moran and Tester had worked together on the legislation for years.

How about we all be grateful our veterans are being taken care of?

If the Dems had done this, they would have gotten the same backlash, and it would have been well deserved.

I’m political on some things, but this issue is obvious. On some issues, politics needs to be put aside; it's that simple.
This is one of them.


Have any of you been in any of our wars? Well, I have not. But I’ve seen enough of wars in documentaries and read a great book on the Battle of the Buldge that made me see the sacrifice of these great young men and women. How American boys 19 and 20 died for us! Got injured for us! Fought and died against the evilest force the world has ever known in Hitler, and almost 300 thousand lost their lives fighting for our freedom in WWII, or we might be speaking German now.

The other wars, Korea, Vietnam, and certainly Iraq, weren’t as noble, but still, they fought and died, and some were injured, some injured for life, without any guile for the leaders though maybe those leaders deserved some.

But they willingly fought for America anyway. For you and me, your wives, families, and your children, so they can have the boon and opportunity to live in freedom to pursue happiness.

I personally have had one good friend die in one of those wars and won’t forget him.

These young people and the older veterans deserve better.