The U.S. Senate announces its final vote on passage of the PACT Act, expanding health care for veterans exposed to toxins during service, including from burn pits.
The U.S. Senate announces its final vote on passage of the PACT Act, expanding health care for veterans exposed to toxins during service, including from burn pits.
BOISE — Idaho’s two GOP senators both say they voted against the PACT Act, the newly passed bill expanding health care for U.S. veterans exposed to toxic substances from burn pits while serving overseas, because they objected to a provision in the bill they contended could lead to billions more in unrelated spending over the next decade.
“As an ardent supporter of America’s veterans, I am committed to ensuring health and disability benefits are provided to veterans exposed to toxic substances while on their tours of duty,” Sen. Mike Crapo said in a statement to the Idaho Press. “This Congress, I have led or co-sponsored four bills included in this package to address burn pit injuries and illness.”
“These important bills had broad bipartisan support and probably could have passed the Senate without opposition, but instead Democrats created a nearly $400 billion slush fund for additional unrestrained spending,” Crapo said.
Sen. Jim Risch, in a statement from his office, said, “As a strong supporter of veterans and cosponsor of legislation included in the PACT Act, Senator Risch wanted to get to ‘yes’ on this bill. Unfortunately, Democrats wrote in a $400 billion hole in the discretionary budget they can fill with spending totally unrelated to veterans. It is inappropriate to use a bill for veterans as a backdoor to usher in huge sums of unrelated spending.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, a lead sponsor of the bill, wrote in an Aug. 2 letter to his Senate colleagues, “The charge that this bipartisan legislation creates a ‘slush fund’ that will be spent on unrelated things is false. ... This legislation does not include any spending on unrelated activity beyond supporting our toxic-exposed veterans.”
The bill passed the Senate on an 86-11 vote on Wednesday and headed to the president’s desk. The bill first passed the House in March on a 256-174 vote, with both Idaho GOP Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson voting no; it’s been through several iterations and votes since then.
In July, the Senate unexpectedly defeated a procedural motion on the bill, which it had approved in June, as two dozen GOP senators switched their votes to “no” from their June vote. They were led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who contended Democrats had added a $400 billion “budgetary trick” to the bill between the two votes. That prompted a strong response from comedian Jon Stewart and veteran advocates who said the bill didn’t change between those two dates.
A Newsweek fact check concluded that Stewart was correct that the bill hadn’t changed between those two votes, and the budgetary rule at issue was in the bill all along.
Risch and Crapo weren’t among the senators who switched their votes; they opposed the bill each time they voted on it.
When the Idaho Press asked Risch’s office for more information about $400 billion in spending unrelated to veterans being included in the bill, Risch’s office provided a link to a video of a floor speech by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania. In his speech, Toomey contended the bill included a “budget trick that allows for more spending in other areas,” and said a Congressional Budget Office estimate showed that could lead to Congress approving up to $400 billion over 10 years in unrelated spending. Toomey, in his speech, said that meant there were “skids greased for a massive spending binge.”
Toomey also voted no on the bill on Wednesday, while Cruz voted in favor.
Crapo, in his statement, said, “I have a strong record of supporting veterans to ensure they have access to high-quality health care, opportunities to thrive following their transition from the military and protecting their Second Amendment rights. I, too, remain committed to Idaho veterans impacted by burn pits and toxic exposure and will continue to support bipartisan legislation that can withstand necessary fiscal standards to ensure solvency and endurance, not additional slush fund spending placed on the American people.”
Last week, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, during a visit to the Boise VA, decried the delay in Senate passage of the bill and said the Department of Veterans Affairs has added staff to ensure it is ready for increased claims made by veterans, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.
The VA calls the PACT Act “perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history.” It expands eligibility for VA health care for veterans with toxic exposures and veterans from the Vietnam, Gulf War and post-9/11 eras; adds numerous “presumptive” conditions for which veterans can qualify for benefits for exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, radiation and more without having to first prove service connection; and launches a new toxic exposure screening program for all veterans enrolled in VA health care. The bill also expands VA research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures.
President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday, “I look forward to signing this bill, so that veterans and their families and caregivers impacted by toxic exposures finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they earned and deserve.”
Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.
