[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3762-S3763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                PACT Act

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I want to talk just a few minutes about the 
circumstances we now find ourselves in, in passing what I consider to 
be one of the most important pieces of legislation--perhaps the most 
important piece of legislation that is currently pending certainly 
before the U.S. Senate--and that is what we have been referring to as 
the PACT Act.
  It is legislation that we have talked about many times on the Senate 
floor. It is a piece of legislation that I and Senator Tester 
introduced. It is a piece of legislation that follows a long line of 
bills coming from the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee with broad 
bipartisan support that have consequential outcomes for the veterans of 
our Nation.
  We started years ago, several years ago, in regard to the MISSION 
Act. We followed that with the John Scott Hannon Act.
  The MISSION Act provided additional opportunities for veterans to 
access care in settings across the country to bring medical care to 
veterans closer to home to make it more available.
  And we followed that with the John Hannon Act, which dealt with 
mental health and trying to reduce and eliminate the use of suicide in 
veterans' lives.
  And then, finally, we have this major piece of legislation that has 
been a long time coming--way too long--in meeting the needs of those 
veterans who served, now, a long time ago in Vietnam and in Southeast 
Asia and our veterans who more recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
It is the subject of toxic exposure, where veterans come into contact 
with something that maybe not at the time created any healthcare 
concerns for them but over time has become a significant medical and 
healthcare challenge for those who served in those areas, in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, their location in relation to the location of a burn pit--
where many things were burned and caused toxic exposure for those 
veterans in the vicinity--and going back to Vietnam, Agent Orange, 
which has been so devastating to so many people.
  Veterans have waited for a long time. The process to date has been so 
slow. The legislative efforts, while they have occurred, were never 
sufficient to meet the needs of those who served our Nation.
  And the actions at the Department of Veterans Affairs have delayed 
decisions for veterans that would make certain that those who 
encountered these traumatic and damaging healthcare consequences of 
their service to our Nation receive the medical care that they deserve 
and the benefits, the financial benefits, that come from being disabled 
as a result of military service.
  I want to reiterate my support for that piece of legislation. The 
PACT Act needs to--as it came out of our committee by a unanimous vote. 
It passed the Senate previously with 84 votes. And we need to continue 
the practice of taking care of our Nation's veterans in a way that is 
not partisan on either side of the issues.
  I often tell my constituents, with some level of pride, that I serve 
on a committee, and, unfortunately, one of the few remaining committees 
in which it is difficult sometimes to tell whether there is a 
Republican chairman or a Democratic chairman. I have been a ranking 
member and the ranking member of that committee and I have been the 
chairman of that committee. The Senator from Montana and I have worked 
hard. And in many ways, because of our veterans, it is a natural 
occurrence that we find common ground, and our committee members have 
done the same.
  We are now at the point in which we need to make certain that the 
PACT Act be considered, that cloture be invoked, the difficulties we 
have had with whether there needs to be an amendment or amendments need 
to be resolved, and this issue needs to pass the U.S. Senate in short 
order.
  Our veterans need to be reassured. I would do this to the best of my 
ability to reassure veterans that, for whatever is in my capabilities, 
I am going to be the advocate, the spokesperson, the one who is trying 
to make--along with my colleagues. I am not trying to single myself out 
as the only one who cares about this issue. But for what I can do, I am 
going to do it to make sure that we have success in this legislation. 
Success, to me, is passage by the Senate, passage by the House, and 
signed by the President, and a law that then can be implemented by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
  I have said many times that there are lots of challenges still to 
come. No piece of legislation that we pass is easily implemented by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and we will have our work to do. But at 
the moment, the work before us, the work that needs to be accomplished 
today, now, this week, is the passage of the PACT Act so that our 
veterans who are encountering significant medical challenges have the 
care and benefits that come from being a veteran.
  I am one of those who agree with the thought, the belief, that if you 
serve in our military, we owe you to live up to the promises we made. I 
am of the belief that the costs of war--they certainly come with the 
service. We then have an obligation not only to fund the military 
activities but to fund the programs and benefits that are necessary to 
care for those who serve who, as a result of their service, are damaged 
mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally.
  Again, I ask the leaders of the U.S. Senate and my colleagues here 
to--let's get this resolved, let's get it resolved quickly, and let's 
make certain that our veterans, as we want to serve them, are served in 
the way they should be.

[[Page S3763]]

  I just would only add that time is of the essence. This bill has been 
pending before the Senate for a while and, before that, in the U.S. 
House of Representatives. But it has been a conversation by our 
veterans service organizations, their members; it has been a 
conversation by veterans organizations across the country now for 
decades: Solve this problem.
  We are on the cusp of doing so, and we should not let this moment 
pass. There are veterans who are dying every day. There are veterans 
who have died since this legislation was introduced. I would like to 
make certain that there is no veteran, even if he or she is nearing 
that time of the end of their life, worried about whether their 
children or their spouse is going to receive the care and treatment and 
the benefits that they earned by their service.
  So, Mr. President, please, my colleagues of the U.S. Senate, please, 
let's make certain we do our work to honor their service.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.