“These veterans don’t have time! They’re running out of time. They need health care now, and if they don’t get it, they’re dying!” said Natalia Kempthorne-Curiel, who traveled with her father Nathan Kempthorne to the demonstration.

"They've gotten serious, serious conditions -- cancers, lung diseases. They've sacrificed everything. They risk life and limb and the very least we can do as a country is ensure they receive top care," Schumer said.

Plans called for an around-the-clock fire watch of advocates at the Capitol to last until Monday afternoon, when the Senate is again scheduled to vote on the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, better known as the PACT Act. The goal was to emphasize — throughout the weekend — the importance of action on the issue, even if no lawmakers were present to see it.

Biden said on the FaceTime call that the country has a “sacred obligation” to care for those who go into war and care for them and their families after they return. He said opposing the legislation is “despicable,” and he has to believe that the bill’s opponents are “going to make up for the mistake they made.”

In 1986, Audrey Williams Pride laid her infant son to rest. She blamed herself for his death—but it was actually the government’s fault. The authorities at Camp Lejeune, the North Carolina Marine Corps base Audrey called home, had contaminated the drinking water.

Doctor Richard Clapp and activist, Mike Partain, detail the health issues veterans and families stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1952 and 1985 have dealt with.