[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2843-S2844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING OUR PROMISE TO ADDRESS COMPREHENSIVE TOXICS ACT OF 2021

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3967) to improve health care and benefits for 
     veterans exposed to toxic substances, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.


                           Amendment No. 5051

  (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.)
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 5051.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment by number.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Montana [Mr. Tester] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 5051.

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask to dispense with any further reading 
of the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in the Record of June 7, 2022, under ``Text 
of Amendments.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.


                Amendment No. 5065 to Amendment No. 5051

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 5065.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment by number.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New York [Mr. Schumer] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 5065 to amendment No. 5051.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask to dispense with further reading of 
the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

                  (Purpose: To add an effective date)

       At the end add the following:

     SEC. __. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 day after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, the Senate is on the verge of honoring our 
commitment to our country's toxic-exposed veterans and their families 
through the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act.
  Look, generation after generation of veterans have been exposed to 
toxic substances during their time in service, dating all the way back 
to World War I and every conflict since then.
  And they have returned only to face yet another battle here at home 
when

[[Page S2844]]

they seek care and benefits because of the impact of toxic exposure on 
their lives.
  In the worst care scenarios, folks are paying the price with their 
lives--veterans and heroes like Sergeant First Class Robinson, for whom 
this bill is named after.
  Look, we have made some incredible advances as a country over our 
history when it comes to taking care of our servicemembers both in-
theater and after they get back home. The survival on the battlefield 
now compared to 50 years ago has been improved amazingly.
  Prosthetics--we have done some amazing work with prosthetics for the 
folks who have come back who are missing limbs. We have been working 
hard on mental health. We are not where we need to be, but we are 
making some advances. We have got more stuff to do, particularly in the 
area of transition and implementation of alternate forms of mental 
healthcare.
  But the fact is, with toxic exposure, we have never done a good job. 
This bill will put the VA and put this Nation on the right track to 
addressing decades of inaction and failure by our government--by us--to 
pay for the cost of the war.
  So what does it do? It expands eligibility--expands eligibility--for 
VA healthcare to more than 3\1/2\ million combat veterans exposed to 
burn pits since 9/11.
  It supports our post-9/11 and Vietnam-era veterans by removing the 
burden of proof for 23 presumptive conditions caused by toxic exposure, 
from cancers to lung diseases.
  It establishes a framework for the establishment of future 
presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure. So why is 
this important? Well, you know how the Senate works. Oftentimes, it 
takes a long time to get much done, and it has taken an act of 
Congress--literally, an act of Congress--to get these presumptives 
approved in the past.
  Now the VA is going to have a structure where they can follow the 
science and get these toxic exposures covered, the ones that are going 
to happen in the future--and, unfortunately, I am afraid that they will 
happen in the future so this structure is important.
  This bill also gives the VA the tools it needs to bolster its 
workforce, to establish more healthcare facilities, to improve claims 
processing, which will better meet the immediate and future needs of 
every veteran that the VA serves.
  I have talked about the costs. The costs are $287 billion over 10--
significant, very significant, but it is a cost of war.
  Keep in mind that this substitute--because of the work that the 
staffs have done in a bipartisan way--is $50 billion less than the 
House-passed toxic exposure bill.
  So we have done our best to make sure that this bill meets the needs 
of our veterans and also meets the needs of our taxpayers.
  This is the right thing to do, and it is the right thing to get done 
today because right now our veterans are paying the cost. They are the 
only ones paying the cost, and they cannot afford to wait any longer.
  I yield the floor.

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