The PACT Act goes to the U.S. Senate Tuesday and YOUR voice matters!

Click here to contact
your U.S. Senator TODAY.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate will take up the PACT Act – a bill passed by the House that will guarantee America’s veterans who have suffered exposure to dangerous toxic substances – like burn pits – permanent access to VA care, and will establish a list of conditions that are presumed to be linked to those exposures, affording impacted veterans their full benefits. Current estimates are that 3.8 million of OUR veterans were exposed during their military service. Help us get this bill passed in the Senate by calling and/or e-mailing your U.S. Senator TODAY, TOMORROW, Monday. We need to deluge them ALL before Tuesday.

RELATED: THE AMERICAN LEGION CALLS PACT ACT AGREEMENT ‘HISTORICALLY IMPACTFUL’ FOR GENERATIONS OF VETS

Why? It’s about people like this … and the veteran down the street from you, whether they served in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan or any service in between.

This lovely young mother, Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas, died on April 5, 2022 at the age of 42. Kate was a Marine who served as a Military Police officer in Fallujah, Iraq in 2005. When Kate left the Corps to pursue her Ph.D. in public health, marry Shane, and give birth to this beautiful boy, Matthew, she felt fortunate for having returned home intact, uninjured, and ready to contribute in her civilian life.

That was dramatically changed when she was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer ten years after leaving the battlefield. Her doctors reported that it appeared as if

she had been dipped, head to toe, in “something”. The three different types of cancer that had invaded her then-38 year old body would take her life after a four-year fight. Here is her story in her a conversation with Stephanie Ramos, a woman veteran working at ABC News.

Throughout her battle with breast cancer and the three-year claims process battle that should have afforded her treatment by the VA, Kate continued to research, write, and advocate for veterans. Her advocacy expanded to fighting for expanded mammograms for women veterans and the PACT Act, testifying in Congress just weeks before she died.

Voices of Support: At the Pass the PACT Act Rally held Memorial Day weekend, friends and strangers gathered together to lend passionate voice to the battle for this bill. One of Kate’s best friends, Mindy Beyer, can be heard at 23:39 on this video. Comedian Jon Stewart – who can be viewed at 45:00 – is a long standing, passionate advocate for this legislation, and brought his full fire and fury to the event. Take a few minutes to listen to at least these two speakers. The 3.8 million American veterans who have been exposed to toxics deserve your time and your action.

We Need YOU: Please, take mere minutes out of your day before the close of business on Monday to reach YOUR Senator. Truthfully, this bill is not inexpensive, but then the lives of America’s veterans have unlimited value – to the country they served, their families, friends, and communities. This bill addresses at least part of the True Cost of War.

Author: caLegion Contributor

The above article may contain opinions which are the author's own and may not necessarily reflect an official stance taken by The American Legion Department of California. We do our best to vet any information posted to the website. Please email webteam@calegion.org with any changes and/or corrections to anything published here.