 The anticipation is tough as well. I'm Shane Lerman, DAV's Deputy Legislative Director. Good afternoon to everyone and welcome. March 3rd, the House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote, passed the historic legislation, the Honoring R-Pact Act. Now it's before the Senate. They will be voting on this bill in the upcoming weeks. That's why today, Veterans Service Organizations, veterans, families, surviving spouses, we're joined together, united to rally all Americans to urge the Senate to vote yes on the Honoring R-Pact Act. We are at the precipice of a monumental event solving the puzzle of comprehensive toxic exposure legislation for past, current, and future generations of veterans exposed to environmental hazards. As a nation, we have responded too slowly to provide healthcare and benefits for toxic exposed veterans. It took over 60 years to recognize diseases due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. 50 years for mustard gas exposure, 40 years for radiation exposure, and we're still adding diseases and locations for Agent Orange exposed veterans 50 years later. There are thousands, thousands of veterans exposed to toxins such as burn pits who we are all ready too late for, such as Miss Ashley McNorrell. Ashley was deployed to Iraq where she was exposed to burn pits, which she noted was only just a few feet away from her chow hall. After service, Ashley and her husband tried to start a family, but were unable to conceive due to what they were told was endometriosis, which required Ashley to have a hysterectomy. After they adopted two small twin boys, she decided to finally have the hysterectomy. However, during that surgery, it was discovered she had stage four appendiceal cancer, a rare form of the disease only occurring in one case out of a million. After years of VA claims and appeals without success, she sought out the assistance of a DAV benefits advocate. And what then Ashley finally was awarded total and permanent VA disability benefits and access to healthcare. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, she succumbed to her burn pit related cancer, left her husband and two young boys behind. The honoring our PACT Act would ensure that Ashley and veterans like her would have access to healthcare and benefits sooner rather than later. We must take full advantage of the opportunity to an act thoughtful and meaningful toxic exposure legislation. But veterans and their families can't afford to continue to wait for decades like past generations who are exposed to mustard gas, radiation, contaminated water, and Agent Orange. As noted historian C. North, Northcott Harkinson said, delay is the deadliest form of denial. I call on each of you to reach out to your senators, whether it's here in Kentucky or Ohio, wherever you live, reach out. The Senate must act on the PACT. Veterans and their families cannot afford to wait. Now I'd like to call up DAV's very own Dan Clare. Thank you all very much. Good afternoon. My name is Dan Clare. I'm a veteran of the Iraq War. I served in the Marine Corps and then later in the Air Force. One of the most important things that happened in my military service was on 9-11, while we watched the towers, I was in California, I was able to take FEMA teams help with the airlift of FEMA teams to New York. And it felt extremely meaningful at the time. And I wanted to be a part of what was going on. I wanted to be a part of the response to what happened on 9-11. I joined DAV as a member and as an employee. And I was serving with DAV in 2007 when I was called to active duty to Balot Air Base Iraq. So I was doing communications for DAV at the time. And I was doing communications then for the Air Force when I was called to active duty. And ironically, I was put on the crisis communications team to talk about burn pits. And the goal actually that team was not to talk about burn pits. It was to pray to God that no one found out about burn pits and no one else talked about it. We were able to get that information back to DAV pretty quickly when I was in Iraq. And by the time I got home, we were midway through a plan to make that information public. We coordinated that. And I'm very proud to be a part of that. I'm proud to be a part of so many other groups who are part of that as well. Who've been responsive, who've joined in seeing what this is. One of the things about this act is it's not a generational act. This is for everyone. And when I found out what was going on with burn pits, you didn't have to see Colonel Curtis's memo to know how dangerous it was. You didn't have to, you could taste the air in Iraq and it tasted like diesel and whatever other fun stuff was being burned on that day. It changed flight line operations in Iraq. It changed the way we defended our base. So it was a serious thing. And we knew it was a serious thing. What's happened since then is we've seen a lot of veterans come home and they're sick. And I've seen, we've seen spouses, mothers, parents who are dealing with this. And it's a crisis. And it's time that we get justice for these people. It's time we act on the pack. One of the things that I was extremely proud of, I didn't realize how serious burn pits were until I got home and the Vietnam veterans talked about it and found out about the issue and really rallied behind the issue. Vietnam veterans saw this right away for what it was. It's another generation's agent, Orange. So this is our chance to do justice. This is our chance to do the right thing for veterans. We gotta get this passed. I hope that Senators McConnell and Paul get behind this. And I thank you all for being here. Let's pass the pack. Thank you guys. Thank you, Dan. I'd like to introduce our next speaker, Danielle Robinson from Ohio and the spouse of Army veteran, Heath Robinson. My name is Danielle Robinson and I'm the widow of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson. I'm an Ohio advocate for burn pits 360 and I'm also here representing Gold Star families who are victims of burn pit exposures. Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson fought stage four lung cancer for three years before his passing on May 6, 2020. The first words out of his oncologist's mouth were, what the hell have you been exposed to? Your cancer is only due to toxic exposure the way it is presenting. Heath was around burn pits in Kosovo and had guard duty placing him in close proximity to a burn pit on Camp Victory in Iraq. I'm going to put Senators Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman in my shoes for a minute. My soldier who won the Best Ohio Warrior competition two years in a row was now so sick he couldn't leave the house without cute bags, his oxygen tank, multiple meds for pain, fentanyl patches on his back, loads of tissues and Vaseline for when he would get a gushing, pouring and uncontrollable nosebleed. We had countless hours in ERs and hospitals all across central Ohio. Every doctor and nurse never knew the best courses of treatments for him as he had unusual symptoms with many side effects. Heath became so ill, I had to set aside three hours just to bathe him. I had to place a chair every eight to 10 feet from the family room where he slept as he was tethered to his oxygen. I monitored his pulse ox just to make sure when it dropped into the 60s, it would slowly improve to the 80s. So he could be able to move another 10 feet. I had to help him crawl upstairs to be able to bathe. As a physical therapist, we don't get patients out of bed if they are less than 90% O2 saturation levels. So this shows just how much of a struggle it was for Heath to breathe. I slept for months on a love seat so I could take care of him 24 hours. Our nights consisted of him puking at the same time blood was pouring out of his nose and trying to help him breathe with putting his nasal caniola in his mouth. Trying to help him be able to just make it through the night. Our young daughter happened to find her superhero daddy lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood one morning. He was gasping for air and he begged her to go get mommy. Our daughter ran and hid under the table shouting, why is this happening to daddy? We tried to shield her from seeing so much trauma but living in the same house isn't always possible. So I'm asking you senators, would you want to see your loved one struggling and suffering like this? First of all, knowing this could have been prevented and knowing our country did this to him. Would you want to have to fight the VA for benefits? Medications, imaging, testing, hospice care, caregiver benefits? All while trying to take care of your loved one in their last months, weeks, days and hours. Filling out countless pages of paperwork just to know that you're gonna get denied and then you need to appeal it and then you're gonna get denied again. This is what our focus should be on our loved ones during these final hours. These benefits should be automatic. You shouldn't have to fight and be an advocate for your soldier who's come home and is now fallen ill from armpit exposures. This is our story. So many other veterans and Gold Star families have their own stories about how burn pits devastated their lives. Heath told me three nights before we put him on hospice, he didn't know how to give up. I held Heath in my arms on our family room floor underneath him for seven hours on his last night. I told him he was a great dad, a great friend, husband, family member and a great soldier. And he did good. I told him he fought. He accomplished as much as he could. And I told him he did good. Now Senator McConnell, Senator Pol, Senator Brown and Senator Portman and any of those other senators out there that are not on board with honoring our CAC DECTS. I'm asking you to get on board. Please put yourself in our shoes. Heath Robinson and the rest of his brothers and sisters are sick and slowly dying and they need your help now. How is this happening in America? You want to support and think a veteran? Vote yes on the honoring our CAC DECTS. Anything less is a disgrace and frankly, it is inhumane. Next up is Mike King, regional representative for Senator Sherrod Brown. Thank you so much for being here. Good afternoon. My name is Mike King. I'm a regional representative for US Senator Sherrod Brown. Senator Brown is not able to attend today. However, he asked me to read these remarks. But before I begin, I want to say thank you so much for sharing your story. Marks from Senator Brown. Dear friends, thank you all for all of your work to support those who have served us. All into all the veterans and military families attending. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices. That sacrifice is why it's so important that we pass the honoring our promise to address comprehensive, toxic, packed act. In the last 20 years, the Department of Veteran Affairs has seen a 61% increase in the rate of cancers tied to toxic exposure. Thousands of veterans have been diagnosed with serious illnesses that may have been caused by exposure to hazardous substances such as mustard gas, radiation, contaminated water, and agent orange during their time in service. This is a cost of going to war. And our country has a duty to ensure that all veterans are able to get the quality, affordable VA care they earned and they deserve. The honoring our packed act is the most comprehensive toxic exposure bill ever voted on. And it would impact nearly 3.5 million American veterans who have been exposed to date. It's an honor to serve those who have served in uniform as a long-serving Ohioan on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Our office also has a team of caseworkers available to assist Ohio veterans and service members. If you or your family or anyone you know are having trouble accessing VA benefits you earned, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. It's an honor to stand and solidarity with Ohio veterans as we work to move the honoring our packed act forward. Sincerely, share it. Thank you, we cannot thank Senator Brown enough for responding to our request and invitation to be here today. And up next we're gonna have a friend of mine who you've been fighting this issue for a very long time together in DC on Capitol Hill. I'm very pleased to present from the Military Officers Association of America, Wormoa, Corey Titus. Thanks, James. And thank you, Mike, for coming to this chair, Senator Brown's remarks. So my name is Corey Titus. I'm the director of veteran benefits on the government relations team of the Military Officers Association of America. I'd like to thank D.V. for hosting this event and giving us the opportunity to speak on this important issue. It's a privilege to be here alongside Daniel Robinson, John Stewart, and all the veterans and survivors who have advocated tirelessly on this issue. And we really appreciate to see Senator Brown represented here as well today. Somebody else that I would like to introduce is Amelia Stanley, the surviving spouse of Major Jason Stanley, a retired Air Force Special Operations pilot who passed from Aguil Blastoma last month. The wounds from Jason's passing are very fresh and I appreciate her coming here today to support our efforts and allow me to share some of Jason's story with you. Amelia is a native of Cincinnati and it was Jason's adopted home. In a culture that prides itself on serving others and moving out to accomplish the mission, the uniform may come off, but that mentality never leaves. I appreciate Jason carried that ethos with him as a Medevac and later a contracted pilot for the military. Tough it out and keep serving. He didn't recognize that his headaches and nose bleeds were symptoms of much deeper health issues. Jason's first seizure was in June of last year and his cognitive decline quickly followed. He began to lose his ability to converse, operate a computer or advocate for himself. And after being misdiagnosed twice in Alabama, the Mayo system here correctly diagnosed Jason with the terminal glioblastoma. Jason and Amelia tried to figure out how this could have happened because Jason was in great physical shape and had no cancer. Cancer was like this in his family history. This is when Amelia remembered the story of President Biden's son, Bo, and how he experienced the same cancer and the pieces fell into place. When the Stanleys reached out to VA, they found confusion, gaps and delays getting into the VA system and receiving the care that Jason deserved from a service. In addition to trying to care for Jason, Amelia's worked with him to navigate VA systems and Jason, because Jason did submit a claim when he separated from service because in his view, a little hearing loss and a little back pain were nothing to complain about. Without Amelia's help, Jason would have been incapable of doing the work to get to the medical appointments. His medical appointment scheduled, coordinate transportation or get a claim filed. Once Jason's claim was submitted in December of 2021, the VA moved quickly. It was granted in just over three months on February 12th of this year. His case was fortunately expedited and we're grateful for that, but we can do much better for our veterans. Our nation has enough of Jason. It shouldn't have been his responsibility to know his service from Iraq, Afghanistan, Djibouti and Uzbekistan, put him at greater risk for illnesses linked to burn pit exposures. The increased training for medical providers, information campaigns to refetter and study stipulated the Pact Act would have certainly helped Jason, would have helped us horrible situation most if Jason already had a relationship with the VA and was receiving his care with them, like so many Vietnam and Gulf War veterans. Without being tied into the VA system to receive the suitable medical equipment support, Amelia had to rig up equipment to get Jason in and out of bed, turning their bedroom into a makeshift hospital. Instead of having hospice and caregiver support through the VA for the past several months of Jason's life, his son Harrison quit his job as an archeologist in Columbus and had to come home to help the family. Jason was granted service connection, but delays from not having a simple process caused unnecessary struggles in his final days. He's not alone, nearly 80% of burn pit claims are denied by the VA. Jason's accepted claim shouldn't be the exception. It should be the rule. Veterans need the fast tracking that comes along with the presumptive illnesses in the Pact Act. Every person who puts on the uniform helped carry out the mission of defending our nation. Unfortunately, there's another legacy that we are faced with, passing the baton on toxic exposures. Today we're fighting not just for burn pit veterans, but for past generations who have had their service connect conditions recognized by the scientific community, but not our nation. These are toxic exposures from Vietnam and Gulf Wars, but also peacetime exposures at home and abroad. These are exposures that happened long before I was born, many in this room. And unless we do something like the bold steps including the honoring our Pact Act, we will pass this unfulfilled debt to the next generation that follows me. The honoring our Pact Act is the bill that veterans like Jason need. It cares for those who sacrifice for our nation and it fundamentally changes how our nation responds to burn pit exposures. This bill offers the healthcare, the process reforms and it recognizes the presumptive illness as sought by Moa and every other veterans group. The house passed. The president has said we will sign it. He will sign it. Now our veterans survivors look to our senators to act. We need to get this into law to take care of those who serve and fundamentally change our exposures, our approach to toxic exposures for those who haven't even put on the uniform yet. Thank you. My name is Cody Esparza. I served in the Marine Corps in Iraq in two tours, 2004 to 2005, 2005, 2006. The first tour we did, our forward operating base was in Iskandarilla. Now Iskandarilla, where we lived, it was right next to the power plant that bordered the Euphrates River. Our tents were right in between that and the burn pit that was on the other side where we staged our humbies. I didn't really think about it at the time. We had other things to worry about. So we went on with our days and finally got to come home. But a lot of my friends that I served with have come down with different things, expect them very bad. It's hard to talk about when you lose somebody that survived fighting over there to come home and be taken by something like that. I myself suffer with some chronic cough and issues, but who knows what's next. But this isn't just about Marines in Iraq and the people that fought in the Iraq FDNC war, it's about all of us, or Vietnam veterans and everybody else that served. But hopefully my story gives somebody some hope that this act will pass and that we won't have to worry about going to the VA and having to file claims to get what we need to survive. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you very much, Cody. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you very much, Cody. And I just wanted to touch on something really quick that Cori mentioned, the VA has publicly said they support the honoring our PAC Act. President of the United States has said he will sign it into law if it passes. So that means it has to come through the Senate. That's why we're here. We need all senators in this country to listen to every single one of these stories and realize the impact and the suffering that is continuing on a daily basis. Up next and another colleague of mine who we've been working with this for many years is Caitlin Hedrick from IAVA. Good afternoon. I want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who took time out of their schedules to show up for our nation's veterans today both in person and online. My name is Caitlin Hedrick and I am here representing Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. I also want to thank and applaud Danielle for being here today and for continuing to fight for others as well as Amelia for being here today. We appreciate your efforts more than you can know. We are here today to call on the Senate to vote on and pass the honoring our PAC Act, the most comprehensive piece of legislation to aid veterans exposed to burn pits and other airborne hazards. By providing this will provide medical and disability benefits as well as a framework for how presumptive illness is handled in the future. It is estimated that three and a half million veterans and service members have been exposed to burn pits and other toxins. And IAVA's latest member survey over 90% that were exposed believe that they already have or may have symptoms as a direct result of that exposure. Despite this, veterans continue to be denied medical and disability benefits at VA for ailments that they have as a result. As a US Navy veteran, a veteran spouse and a mother of three, my heart breaks for those who've had to watch their loved ones suffer and hear that it wasn't fiscally responsible to care for them when their illnesses were a direct result of their service. I cannot imagine how I would have kept my composure if the insurance company had told me it wasn't fiscally responsible to treat my son when he was diagnosed with leukemia. And as many have said recently, our service members didn't think about what was fiscally responsible when they answered the call to serve and put themselves in harm's way to defend this country. So I asked, why aren't some in Congress newly concerned with fiscal responsibility when it comes to caring for our veterans that are experiencing catastrophic effects as a direct result of their service? I thought we had learned our lesson after we watched so many Vietnam veterans suffer at the hands of Agent Orange, but here we are and we continue to see it with Camp Lejeune as well. I know that there have been some concerns over VA's capacity to handle the number of claims filed as a result of this legislation and how there could be a considerable wait time due to the ever-growing backlog. While this is something that will have to be addressed, I would say that waiting in a line that has a destination is much better than waiting for something that doesn't exist. All of this is to say we must pass the PACT Act now. It is disrespectful to ask our service members to fight for this country and then turn our backs on them when they come home and start to feel the effects of that fight. Our veterans are looking to Congress for bold action and leadership. Failure to care for the many thousands who suffered military toxic exposures may diminish the value of military service in the public's eyes. And by refusing to satisfy our obligations to them, we communicate to current and future service members that we do not have their backs. We must pass this legislation now. We must pass it for Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, for Dr. Kate Hendricks-Thomas, for Sergeant Wesley Black, and for all of those who can't be here with us today. Thank you. I would now like to introduce Michael Goodman, a fellow veteran from Ohio, representing the Wounded Warrior Project. All right, good afternoon, everybody. I'm here representing the Wounded Warrior Project. I live here locally. I'm from Emilia, Ohio. Just like Cody, I am a United States Marine. Herp, herp, yep. I did five combat deployments from 2003, all the way to 2009. During our time period, we exposed everything. We did our job, we did our mission. We did what we had to do to answer our nation's call. I remember, like he said, when we did the push through Fallujah, they had burning pits everywhere across the whole thing there. And we got exposed to so many different stuff there from we had blue barrels of death, what we called them. They know it was in it. Then from there, we just kept pushing forward, did our mission, came home. I just beg for more. I kept going back. My brothers kept going back. Our new guys kept coming in. I went to the dangerous word, did our mission, continue forward. But, you know, I had this whole thing right here right in front of me. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care about the piece of paper. I care about whether I've been here and so far across the board here and how we can relate to each other and how can we get this past. I was on my way driving here today. I was buying a dump truck. Oh, and as well, that's the smoke coming off of it. I know here in the United States, we have ocean standards, we have EPA, we have emissions control. When we're overseas, we don't not have that. We don't have somebody protecting us over there. We just have our each other. So I think about that. If we can protect the people here in the United States, how can we protect us, my brothers, my sisters, who are fighting overseas? How can that support us now? We need your help. Pass this pact act to give us the support and help that we need. The ones who have lost family members. You broke my heart today. You as well, man. I lost my brothers to this as well. I have some who can't have families. It hurts. With that being said, to my senators out there, please pass that. Mr. Wunschrup, I'm calling you. I know you were better as well. But there's other ones out there. Get this through the Senate. Get this through the president's hand so we can get this signed and get this line started. That's Caitlin said. I'll stand in line and not stand in no way. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mike. Thank you. Up next, we have another Army veteran from Ohio. He served in the Persian Gulf and he's here representing Burm Pits 360 as well. Mr. Tim Hughes. Who? Who? Hi, my name is Tim Hauser and I served in the Air Force from June 1982 through September of 1992. Before I can see you on here, I want to thank you. Thank you for the opportunity today. And putting this event on. Help us veterans out. Thank you. All right. And I was deployed to Iran, Saudi Arabia in support of the Gulf War was known as Desert Storm. While there I was exposed to Burm Pits that were used to dispose of all waste including taxic substances. On top of that, I was also exposed to oil well fires that the Iraq's sent out, purposely sent out fire. And this is where our elected officials dropped the ball for Desert Storm. The Iraqi army even stated they set the wells on fire to kill American soldiers for decades. And they're right. It is. Not only was I poisoned by our enemy but I was also poisoned by our own government. We were poisoned by our own government. Not long after I returned to the U.S. I started experiencing breathing problems and I began to pass out for what seemed to be like no reason. I visited numerous hospitals, doctors had new thousands of tests, x-rays, CAT scans, MRIs and no one can figure out what was wrong with me. I was misdiagnosed many times. And as far as Gulf War Syndrome goes with the VA has to be a mystery illness. But if you have one diagnosis of any type, your claim's denied. So after a while I was encouraged to go to the VA for care. So I did. And I filed my first claim four years after I separated from the Air Force. And two years after I started with the VA. And it took 25 years after I filed my first claim to get my service connection approved. 25 years of delays, 25 years of being denied, 25 years of depression, almost half my life has been spent fighting the VA. Only to find out two years ago that I am terminally ill. I'm gonna die here soon. But my fight ain't over. Not until all my brothers and sisters get their healthcare. This is why I'm here today in support of the Honoring Our Pact Act. Your politicians ignoring my calls, presenting carefully crafted emails, 25 years and more watching Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange dragged through the mud. 25 years of wondering if my fellow desert storm veterans are having the same problems. Only to find out we are all getting the same illnesses and the same denials. I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of the crumbs elected officials throw at our feet as if we're pigeons at a park. We have earned and deserve more than crumbs. I support the Honoring Our Pact Act because veterans who suffer from toxic exposure will no longer have to prove their service connection to get help. This bill gives peace of mind to veterans worried about what will happen to their spouse and kids if they die by providing death and survivor benefits. Today we tell Senators McConnell, Paul Portman, Senator Brown, we need your help and we need you to support veterans by voting yes for the Honoring Our Pact Act. Many veterans can't be here to fight with us. Their battles have ended, but we fight in their honor and in their memory. Some like me continue to fight for our lives. So join us and fight for care and benefits to all veterans suffering from toxic exposure. Thank you. Now I'd like to introduce my best friend, maybe got me into Berkeley 360 and also a member of the VAW, Kevin Hensley. I have to get dressed, I apologize. You know, we're told how oxygen concentrator. Oh, the VA will not. Yeah, the VA does not give affordable oxygen concentrators. The Berkeley 360 board is able to give donations for people with affordable oxygen concentrators so I can travel. I might follow that, right? Okay, a couple of things I want you to remember before I start. We are family by tragedy, advocating for triumphs. Number two, if you've been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan from the time of OIF or OEF, then you sign up for the burn pit registry. If you haven't signed up for the burn pit registry, shame on you. This is not just about you, this is about your family. Sign up for the burn pit registry. If you have not signed up for benefits period to the VA, definitely shame on you. Sign up for the VA, sign up for benefits. It's not just about you. Your legacy is counting on you to do that. With that being said, my name is Kevin Hensley. I'm an Air Force veteran. I deployed eight times in the Middle East for those locations out open or operated open air burn pits. In 2017, I was diagnosed with restrictive bronchiolitis, a terminal lung disease after a lung biopsy performed at Vanderbilt University by Dr. Robert Miller. In 2018, I had a spec scan in Littleton, Colorado where I was diagnosed with toxic encephalitis. This showed that my brain was nearly 90% deprived of blood flow and this type of toxic injury is called a toxic brain injury. This is a direct result of my exposure to burn pits and the chemicals that were emitted from those burn pits. I am so proud and we should be proud of all the veteran service organizations that sit in front of you now that are joined together to support the only legislation that provides presumptuous benefits called honoring our PACT Act. There are two groups I'd like to reach out today, the United States Senate and our veterans and their family members. To the senators, I ask you to take a look at all these BSOs and veterans agencies that are here today. We have come together in continued service as we did on the battlefield to support our brothers and sisters and those that have died due to toxic exposure and those that are sick from being exposed. You all have a great opportunity and a responsibility to pass the honoring our PACT Act and get it to the president's desk for his signature. Veterans, families and the rest of America. This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democrat issue. This is a veteran and American issue. Your voice and your vote matters. Continue to call, continue to write and continue to email your senators. To senators McConnell and Paul and all the members of the United States Senate. Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and other locations are sick and dying and have been poisoned in their service to our nation. Families are watching their loved ones go through this process helpless and afraid. Our nation, our veterans, our military and our families deserve a whole lot better. Our nation has a moral obligation to ensure the health, welfare and dignity and quality of healthcare and benefits owed to them because of illnesses caused in service to our nation. The state of Michigan is getting ready to put up billboards. Raising awareness for toxic exposure to veterans to tell their stories and urging all Americans to call, write and email your senators. Wouldn't it be great if we saw all these billboards pop up in every state? Let's get this bill passed together. With your help, we can do this to John Stewart. Thank you for being here. Obviously he will be virtually here for your continued advocacy for 911 first responders. And now the 3.5 million veterans that were exposed to toxins while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and other locations around the Middle East. Burn Pit 360, I am a member. I'm the Michigan advocate for Burn Pit 360 as well as the BFW. Rosie Torres, Leroy Torres and all the members and advocates and families and all the support from back home from down river veterans, from down river girl and friends, McKay radio and other personnel that have given me and us a platform to share our story. God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you everyone. Not done yet. Recently VA, I believe it was Tuesday and now they're gonna be adding nine new presumptive diseases to exposure to toxins and burn pit. Nine extremely rare forms of cancer that will impact less than a thousand veterans. It's needed. It's important. We thank you VA for adding these. But we're not done. We're not even close to being done. 3.5 million veterans in counting are suffering and dying without access to VA healthcare without the benefits they deserve. They've earned through their sacrifice. So thankful we have everybody here with us today and even more thankful to have with us today, John Stewart that has been using his platform, not only for first responders after 9-11 but for veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic exposures. He has been assisting us and using his voice to advocate even more to a larger audience to a broader audience. I'm very thankful he can be with us today and next Mr. John Stewart. Hello. How is everybody? Can you hear me okay? Is my unmuted? Yes. Okay, wonderful. I'm terribly sorry that I can't be with you guys today but unfortunately it is illegal for me to cross the border into Kentucky. Can you hear McConnell has made it very clear that if I I am allowed I think to go watch games in Cincinnati some of those stadiums but I cannot come through. I've been doing this a very long time now first with the 9-11 first responders and now with the veterans And I've seen a lot of really exceptional individuals get sick and I've seen them die. And I've seen the struggles that their families go through. And man, you'd think I'd be used to this by now. But as I sat and listened to all the testimonies from today, I just, I felt those familiar emotions. Emotions of grief and sadness and anger and just confusion. How is this happening in this country? You know, the United States military is the burden is already born by a very, very small percentage of Americans. And we honor their service and sacrifice at football games and discounts at Denny's. And we think we've done our jobs as Americans and as patrons. We've done nothing of the sort. And when you see the incredible courage of the individuals that came up and spoke today. We realize we've abandoned them to fight against the very government through their sacrifice and heroism, they went overseas to defend and protect. And not only have we abandoned them, but we've added burdens to them. The veteran is sick. It puts a financial stress on the family and then they have to come and be their own advocate and their own lawyer and their own doctor and. I mean, service connection taking 20 years and the incredible part about it is, man, they'll throw every excuse at you. VA shouldn't be an insurance company and the American government shouldn't be enabling them. They should be an advocate. And they deny 70 to 80% of these claims. And yet, when lung biopsies are done. On those who are experiencing symptoms. There are exposures whether it be to burn pits or other toxins like at the June where it was benzene and again it was another ridiculously long fight. They find metals in the chest, they find scarring in the chest, they find evidence of burnt plastic, they can determine the temperature at which those materials were burned when they were inhaled. And the government wants to deny that it that has anything to do with. There are illnesses and injuries that they're suffering they treat these veterans like they are defendants. In a case for the health. These are people that went overseas on our behalf, and they come home. And we treat them as though they have committed a crime. And now we have all these veterans service organizations that have come together. And I've seen a lot of the pack deck, which will finally bring toxic exposure care for veterans into the 21st century. And once again, it's a battle. And I've seen how hard these organizations fight and I've seen the suffering of the veterans that they represent. And I've seen the indifference of many of those on Capitol Hill, and it's never not shocking. I don't know, you know, you know, I know the advocates and, you know, we've all been together throughout all this I don't know who's in the room right now, or what media organizations that you're with but but please please please. Get their stories out there. Make sure that people understand too often the veterans community suffers in silence, because, you know, it's a community that tends to be stoic to begin with I'll be fine. But look at how they even in their pain, even in their terminal illness, stand up with their final breaths on this earth to fight for the brothers and sisters that they served with. And if that's not the quality that should define this country, then I don't know what is, and how do we abandon that. And I'm going to tell you that you they're going to throw so much nonsense at them, as they always do. And cheapen out on this or not give them the care. The pact act was designed with the input of what these veterans need with the input of these veteran services organizations with the input of legislative aids that have worked on veterans issues for years, this wasn't slapped together haphazardly. This was done with with great care. I want to honor those that served to get them what they need. But also to be faithful to the statutes that have been designed, and also to be defensible to the taxpayer. This isn't a wasteful program. So now let's tell the truth about where we are here's what they're going to throw at it. Well, we want to be, you know, when this past the House, 174 Republican congressman and women voted against it, but only one spoke. What she says was, Oh, we want to help the veterans, but we want to make sure we're being fiscally responsible. Really, you put $6 trillion of these past wars on a credit card. And when they ended, the Pentagon asked for a budget of $770 billion. Not only did you pass that budget. You threw in an extra $30 billion, you know, topped it off a little bit, just to make sure, you know, they'd be able to put sodas in the break room, or whatever it is that they're doing over there at the Pentagon, a place by the way that's never passed an audit. That's $200 billion every year goes to defense contractors. This bill has been scored at $200 billion over 10 years. But this is the bill they want to focus on is not being fiscally responsible. The value in the military isn't the hardware and the defense contractors it's the men and women, and perhaps we should start treating the budget with that in mind. This is an absolute an outrage. And it needs to be addressed. The other thing one of the senator said was, Well, we want to do it, but we want to make sure that, you know, there's no line, because we want to make sure that a promise made is a promise kept. Well, guess what, you already made that promise when they signed up. So every day that this bill doesn't pass is a promise broken. And I, you know, listen, everybody knows where I stand politically. You know, they certainly tell me that often enough whenever they meet me. I don't agree with anything you say but I like what you're doing here. We're nine Republican senators away from getting this done. And I know that that shocks a lot of the, you know, redder states and the folks that believe that the Republican senators support the troops more than anybody their flagpins are bigger than anybody's. But unfortunately, that's not been the reality here. And it wasn't the reality for the 911 first responders. So my message is, you cannot be America first, when you continue to put veterans last. And so, get on this and get this done and tell the stories that you saw because you are our force amplifiers. They are the ones that can make this case to the American people because they don't know. And if they knew, they feel the outrage that I feel. I really appreciate you all coming out today and hearing the stories and listening to that, but it's time that we recognize the toxic wounds or wounds, whether it's at Lejeune, or whether it's in Iraq and Afghanistan, or whether it's in Vietnam, or whether it was in the Persian Gulf War, war exposes soldiers to dangerous and deadly substances. And those substances may not manifest for years. A toxic wound is a wound that goes off. It's an ID that goes off in your body, seven years later, 10 years later. And let's stop with the okay, we'll give you a large cell carcinoma, but not small cell carcinoma. Really? Is that what we're doing? We're parsing lung cancers? They earned this. Stop. They slept next to metals and toxic waste and fecal matter that was lit on fire with jet fuel and diesel. I mean, the smoking gun in this situation is literally smoking guns. Let's not pretend that we're really going to look into whether or not it may cause health problems. We've known about it for 50 years. It's why you can't do it in America. So I truly appreciate you all being there, but man, these senators have to know that the American people will see where they stand, and they will see if they only support the troops until the troops need support. Because the stories you heard today are the tip of the iceberg of the suffering that our veterans community undergoes as our government continues to put up obstacles to their care and to their well-being. I've gotten to know all the people that presented to you today, and I can't tell you what an impressive group they are. They're incredible. And they ain't going away. So let's get this done. And let's get it done now because I'm tired of saying goodbye to good people. Thank you very much. Thank you, John. And I want to thank the VSOs with us today. Moa IAVA, one of warrior project, Burm Fitts 360. Thank you to Senator Brown. Thank you to Daniel Robinson, Cody, Michael. Thank you very much. Tim, can't appreciate enough Kevin, you guys being here with us today. Before we get into a little Q&A with, and if there's any reporters or anybody has questions for John Stewart or any of us, we'll get to that in a minute. But real quick, what will the Honoring or Pact Act do? You might be thinking to yourself, well, Shane, what is it? Well, I'll tell you what it is. It will provide health care to veterans exposed to toxins without having to be service connected like the law requires right now. Well, it'll also do, but that's another good question. It will add 23 diseases as presumptive to toxic exposures, 23 to burn pits and toxic exposures. It'll also provide a platform to help decide on future diseases that we aren't even aware of yet. It's also going to remember our Vietnam veterans, because honoring our Pact Act will add hypertension as a presumptive disease for veterans exposed to Agent Orange. And it will take it even a step further. It will concede Agent Orange exposure in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, America, Samoa, Guam, and Johnson and Atoll. It'll provide registries for veterans exposed to toxins at Fort McClown, PFAS, water contamination at over 600 military installations. It will add radiation risk activities to veterans who help clean up nuclear fallout. Well, yeah, that's kind of a big deal. They've been excluded from this from years. They're going to be adding veterans who were exposed at, you know, Atoca Tull, who are at Thule, Greenland, who are part of the cleanups in Spain when four bombs went boom. This is the most comprehensive toxic exposure legislation ever considered, ever passed by any member. That's why this is important. We're not just taking care of one generation of veterans. We're taking care of multiple generations of veterans who've been suffering way too long. We need to get them to act on the Pact. I will now open it up to any questions anybody may have for John Stewart or any of our speakers. I'm here by the way, you just can't, you can't see me, that's all. They're going to see my lovely head instead, John, I know that. I am everywhere. You've been doing this for a long time, you've been fighting this fight for a while. What do you think is still misunderstood or people aren't quite understanding? I think John kind of covered a little bit of that and other people in here too. When it comes to benefits, a lot of people who aren't a veteran don't realize you actually got to fight to get health care, service connection, compensation and benefits. It's not just showing up at the VA, hey, I'm Shane, I got broken up when I was in the Marine Corps just go open the drawer that's got my benefits in it, go grab them and hand them to me. Exactly what I thought when I got out. I think not understanding the process and understanding that presumptives is not just giving away benefits. It's because we don't have enough evidence to show that my specific cancer is caused by this, but we do know overall, these exposures will cause all of these cancers. We make the presumptives to make it easier. We give health care to make it easier. Now does that increase the check? Absolutely. Does it increase the cost? Yes, it does. And I think that's where the confusion comes in. They're looking, well, we're spending way too much on better. I think the big failing really is this is a cost of war. When they send us to war and decide to go to war, is there a vote on how much money they're going to spend? Exactly, there is. But yet we're worried about how much money we're going to spend to take care of the millions of veterans suffering from benefits caused by that exposure. That is what's mind boggling to most of us. How can you weigh that overtaking care of people who are dying, who defended you? Can I interrupt you? My husband was also service-connected for his lung cancer. We were denied caregiver benefits even though we were at the third tier, even though he was service-connected because it was not combat-related connected. So we were service-connected and we still got denied benefits from the VA. And Daniel brings up a very good point. There's a lot of benefits that require certain other things. And since armpit exposure isn't considered combat, that's why they weren't able to make that tier. I don't think whether it's combat or not, you served, you got sick, you should be taken care of. As veterans, when we stood up and raised our hand, we took an oath. When we joined the military, we took an oath and said, I promise to defend, I promise to take care of this nation. And we assumed that was going to be reciprocated when we returned. Well, it's not. John noted, and other people have noted, more and more promises are being broken every single day. And it just must stop. There's no point for it anymore. I can't see how we're okay for a blind eye and allow everybody to vote no against something because it may cost too much or might overload the VA system. I really liked what Katelyn said. I'd rather be standing in a line going somewhere than standing nowhere. And that's what it feels like. And I wish more people would realize this isn't easy. This isn't just show up and you get your benefits. 25 years in order for him to get his benefits. It's absurd. Absolutely absurd. One of the misconceptions that the general public has is that we automatically get free health care through VA. VA charges us. It's not free until you get a certain percentage of service connection. So, even though I was in the VA system for 27 years, for those 25 years, I had to pay out my pocket for my health care at the VA. So, not only did I say wondering what's going to happen to me and everything else, I'm also going through bankruptcy. Relationships are being destroyed. There are veterans who are losing their homes. Their spouses are leaving them because they can't handle the pressure or the stress that goes along with all this. Because we have to pay out our own pocket to be reached at least 75% service connected. And then they all brought up a good point of being combat or non-combat related. I don't know how I was able to get combat related. It's a miracle. Because I'm finding out all the folks from the storm called poor syndrome, if they're getting approved, it's non-combat. So they're still having to pay for some of their health care. And how many people are we losing to suicide because of this process too? We don't know. My brother was one of those. He was one of 22 on December of Christmas Eve, 29 years ago. He decided to take his own life to handle the stress. Any more questions from anybody for John or for any of our speakers and presenters here today? I'll ask for you and for John. What keeps you optimistic? You can go ahead, John. What keeps me optimistic is the tenacity and fight of the people that you see lined up in the chairs in that room. They will not give up for themselves, for their loved ones. The woman that I know, a writer, said something to me once that really impacted me. She named Takara Mallard. She said, be careful when people call you a hero. Her whole family is military. Be careful when they call you a hero because that means they're willing to let you die. And the point of this is the people you see in front of you, they're not just heroes. They're mothers and fathers and wives and sons and daughters and grandparents. They're people. They're people who've gone through an ordeal in the name of defending this country. And the optimism I have is there's no quitting them. And the other optimism is you all are sitting there listening to this, finally. And the way to cure this is to bring it to light. I'm convinced that the American public, if they knew more about this, if they saw this more, they would be as outraged as the rest of us. And if there's one thing that our political leaders can't stand is an outraged populace that is going to shame them for their inaction. That's how we get this done. A shame to add on that as well is even from the Wounded Warrior Project, you see the emblem there. You have one guy carrying a wounded guy off a battlefield. But now we have to do that transition where I was at Wounded Guy. I got to start picking up for other brothers and sisters out there who could not have a voice or who does not want to speak up and carry them through a fight. That's what we have to do now. Have to look out for our brothers and sisters across the nation. Lay the platform, lay the groundwork for us, for me, the Vietnam veterans, or the World War II, once we got very few left up, our Korean veterans, or Vietnam, our Persian Gulf, now for us right here who fight from the Iraq and Afghanistan war. We have to look at all the way across the whole board. We learn from our past and make it to our future. If I could real quick, you asked what keeps us optimistic. 80% of us were denied burn pit toxic related claims. Now there are 12 presumptive benefits for toxic exposure and burn pit related instances. That's just the numbers of what's going on right now. All of us sitting here from Wounded Warrior Project to IAVA to DAV to BFW to 60 plus, I think it is now, veteran service organizations that are sitting here in unison. All of you that are sitting here listening to the streaming at home or in your seats right now, if this reaches one person, one person that we can add to that advocate list to take this home and they've got 800 or 1000 Facebook friends that they start sharing and they continue to share this and they continue to share that and they continue to share that. Guess what we've just done. We've generated a community and a community willing to fight and say, you know what, this breaks my heart. We're even still talking about Vietnam. 50 freaking years later, we're still talking about Vietnam. That should then put to bed. 35, 40 years ago, and they should have been getting their benefits a long time ago. They suffered the battle of the burden to make it easier on us, Iraq and Afghanistan and Gulf War veterans to come home to hugs and hails. When they came back from their service. We're in a lot worse situation than what we ever had. So, when you see somebody wearing a hat that says Vietnam veteran, thank them, because we older. You know, you want to stand in solidarity wear hats, wear a shirt that says I'm a veteran, because I'm going to give you a head nod. I'm going to give you. I'm going to come up and talk to you. I'm going to be able to point you out in a restaurant in an airport or wherever we go. And we're going to have a bond without even saying a word to each other just walking by. That's where we bring this. That's where we bring this to the optimism and the forefront of everything that we do for the service. I'm going to stand for something now. What's going to happen generationally later on. Absolutely. We've been fighting for so long. You throw in Vietnam veterans in Agent Orange. This fight has been going and enduring forever just in 2019. We have blue water Navy benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange in the waters offshore, which was taken away from them by an inaccurate reading of a law in 2006 that went back to 1996. That's absurd. We had to fight for years to get that turned around. Exposures has been since at least 2007 2008 and somewhere in there that we've been fighting on this. And less than a year ago, as Kevin pointed out, we got 12 disabilities, we have 12 diseases at it. That's optimism all day long. That knows they're, they're listening we're being heard, but we can't stop. And we can't just say, Oh, thanks for done now. We're all incredibly optimistic about where we are. We're so close. The sentiment leader has promised that the honoring our pact act will get a vote. The question that remains is, will it pass. Will we get the 60 senators we need. And we're nine away. We're almost there. One more optimism is there are thousands of veteran fill up that national mall from capital building right before this does go to both of the senators will see us. If it takes all veterans across this country filling up that national mall, you will do it. Yep. And we need to reach out to them that that's the point right. That's why we're here today, united. So we can reach out to all of those senators I don't care where you live what stage you're at, reach out to make sure they're voting. Oh, I already know that we'll follow up with them. No, because they don't always respond to our emails right when we invite them to events and things like this, not calling anybody out I'm just saying that's how it is. But we need you to act right. And just say, Oh, those guys got it with all the people in the room they got discovered no we don't. If we did. This would have been done a long time ago. We need you to talk to your senator, talk to your family members talk to your, your neighbor your friends, put it on Facebook put it on Twitter, get this out because we're not going to do this alone. We haven't been able to do this alone. We need America's help to make sure veterans are getting what they're entitled to. Nice. Guys I hate to say this, I've got to run I've got to drive somebody doing worth the Dallas appointment. And it's not me. It's a smaller female me. I appreciate everybody being here. I know you guys are going to continue your program I didn't want you to feel like I just ducked out but I wanted to let you guys know but thank you so much and continue the program. And to all you guys sitting in the chairs at the front of the room, I will see you in DC, when we get our plans together. And we're going to be heading down there for a couple of days of real intense lobbying to get this thing over the finish line. It's going to be proud or all the hard work that you're all putting in it's it's really incredible to see. So thank you. Yeah, I think all of you at home, all of you in the room, everybody here who's joined us today. We cannot waste this opportunity to achieve justice for toxic exposed veterans. We must end the seemingly perpetual cycle, right, in which new generations are exposed to things and made ill, got to fight to get what they're entitled to. They should not have to fight for health care and benefits. They so desperately need and have earned the Senate must vote. Yes. On the pact act, and I need all of you to make sure we get them to act on the pack.