XPost: alt.military, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.guns

In article <t2fn2t$3jbnm$188@news.freedyn.de>
governor.swill@gmail.com wrote:

Pelosi says that it is justly deserved because Militarists vote Democrat.

A U.S. military veteran who would have benefited from two
bipartisan measures recently sacked in the House and Senate said
lawmakers “spit” in veterans’ faces by rejecting both proposals.

Michael Braman, 45, is one of many veterans left angry and
confused after Senate Republicans suddenly tanked a widely
supported measure that would have expanded medical coverage for
millions of former military members exposed to toxic burn pits
during their service.

Supporters of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring
Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — or PACT Act —
overwhelmingly expected the House-passed bill to sail through to
the president’s desk for a signature.

But in a procedural vote Wednesday night, 41 Senate Republicans
blocked the bill’s passage, including 25 who had supported it a
month ago.

“They’re playing games with our veterans and their families, and
that’s cruelty,” Braman said. “Our leaders of our country spit
in our face by going back on this bill.”

The move comes two weeks after a House committee declined to
advance the Maj. Richard Star amendment, which would make
medically retired and severely disabled combat veterans with
under 20 years of active service eligible for both disability
and retirement benefits.

“I’m fuming over this,” said Braman, who is relying on the
passage of both measures.

Braman said he was a star athlete in high school who never had
breathing problems. But when he returned home from a deployment
to Afghanistan, where he said he was constantly around open-air
burn pits, he was diagnosed with asthma.

Burn pits were common at U.S. military bases during the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Dangerous materials, from electronics and
vehicles to human waste, were regularly doused in jet fuel and
set ablaze, spewing toxic fumes and carcinogens into the air.

"Depending on the wind, no matter where you were, you’d get the
smoke," Braman said.

After serving in the Army and the Army National Guard for 19
years and five months, Braman said the military forced him to
medically retire in 2014 due to disability caused mostly by post-
traumatic stress disorder.

Under the Maj. Richard Star amendment, Braman and about 50,000
other combat-disabled veterans like him would qualify for
hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars more a month in benefits.

When the House Rules Committee did not move that amendment
forward two weeks ago, Braman said he felt forgotten by the
nation he served.

At the time, however, he felt hopeful that at least the PACT Act
would succeed, expanding Veterans Affairs health care
eligibility to more than 3.5 million post-9/11 combat veterans
who were exposed to toxins while serving in the military.

“If we didn’t get both of them, at least I thought we would get
one. I was 100% sure we were going to get it. It was a done
deal,” Braman said.

Up until Wednesday, the PACT Act had received overwhelming
support in both legislative chambers. In June, the Senate passed
the original legislation 84-14. It underwent minor changes when
it moved to the House, where it passed 342-88.

When the bill returned to the Senate, the bill had not changed
much, but the view — and vote — of 25 senators did.

Some of the legislators told NBC News on Friday that they
refused to vote to end debate for the version of the bill that
reached the Senate floor Wednesday because of what a
spokesperson for Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican,
called a “budget gimmick that allows for $400 billion dollars in
spending over the next 10 years unrelated to veterans.”

Some of their Democratic colleagues believe the move was
political.

In remarks on the Senate floor about his colleagues' change of
heart, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, "Republicans are mad
that Democrats are on the verge of passing climate change
legislation and have decided to take out their anger on
vulnerable veterans."

Many veterans and their advocates agree.

"I’m so fed up with the politics when it comes to veteran
issues," Braman said. "It is downright disgusting."

The Senate could vote again on the PACT Act as soon as Monday.
In an exchange with reporters Thursday, Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “We are going to give our
Republican friends another opportunity to vote on this Monday
night.”

Steven London, 37, another combat-disabled veteran who would
benefit from both bills, is optimistic that the PACT Act will
pass this year.

The Purple Heart recipient served nearly 10 years of active duty
in the Army, including five years in Afghanistan, where he said
burn pits were a "regular everyday part of life."

He was diagnosed with asthma in 2021.

London said he wanted to remain positive, "although it
definitely feels like a setback."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/combat-vet-fuming-lawmakers- failure-pass-two-bipartisan-measures-helpe-rcna40688

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)