Toxic sites like the Open-Air Burn Pit at FOB Salerno in Afghanistan (pictured here, 2012) have been linked to respiratory illnesses suffered by veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction)
On May 26, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) unveiled the Honoring our PACT Act of 2021, which consolidates a bipartisan effort in Congress to prioritize care for veterans that have been exposed to airborne toxins during military service.
The bill has garnered widespread support from both sides of the legislature; many veteran services organizations, including The American Legion; and celebrity activists like comedian Jon Stewart.
If passed, the Honoring our PACT Act of 2021 will provide expanded health care benefits for as many as 3.5 million veterans that have been exposed to airborne hazards, including exposure to burn pits that commonly occurred during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Agent Orange in Vietnam.
Additionally, the bill will mandate that the Department of Veterans Affairs adopt a more streamlined approach to evaluating veteran claims of exposure to airborne toxins. New policies will require that the VA maintain a “presumption of service connection” for veterans suffering from a now-expanded list of illnesses associated with both toxin and radiation exposure.
The VA similarly announced that it is already planning to relax its criteria for benefit claims associated with Agent Orange and particulate matter exposures (including burn pits) on May 27. If the Honoring our PACT Act does not pass Congress, the VA’s anticipated new policies should still make it easier for veterans to get benefits for airborne toxin exposure, albeit without concrete legislative backing.
Readers can see the full text of the Honoring our PACT Act of 2021 here.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
