“From fighting for the largest expansion of veteran health care services in the VA’s history to protecting a woman’s right to choose, delivering for Coastal Virginians remains my top priority in Congress,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Jen Kiggans has prioritized attacking the rights of Virginia women and making health care less accessible, but more expensive. I will always put Coastal Virginians and their families first.”

Earlier this year, Sen. Luján voted for the PACT Act, a vital piece of legislation that will provide 3.5 million veterans health care coverage for treating toxin-exposure related health injuries. Sen. Luján also joined New Mexico Democrats to announce that community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC) in New Mexico are no longer in jeopardy of closing, allowing veterans to continue accessing health care services at the CBOCs in Gallup, Las Vegas, Española, and Raton in New Mexico.

Axios reported that Parker responded to Cartwright with an apology, calling the firm’s move to make the television commercial an “overreach” and said he is “genuinely sorry for any trouble this has caused” him.

"No permission to use my name or likeness in advertisements soliciting clients for your legal practice was ever granted to you by me or my representatives," the congressman wrote, according to a copy of the August 9 letter his office provided to Axios.

Veterans Affairs processors in recent years mishandled more than one-third of all disability claims related to water contamination issues at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, potentially cheating as many as 21,000 veterans out of financial compensation, a government watchdog said Thursday.

“In 1982, the level of trichloroethylene at Camp Lejeune was 280 times higher than the maximum permissible limit, while the level of perchloroethylene was 43 times greater than the safe limit. These chemicals are associated with a high risk of cancer and other conditions, so one can only imagine the damage prolonged environmental exposure to these agents can inflict on human health,” says Gregory Cade, toxic exposure attorney, and industrial hygienist.

Public Affairs Officer Lydia Delgado and Veterans Outreach Program Coordinator Jason Richards joined Good Day Rochester to discuss more about the PACT Act's impact on the veteran community and its key components.

The substance can be highly carcinogenic and can cause long-term health problems associated with the kidneys, the respiratory tract, and coordination. And consistent long-term exposure to PCE can raise the risk of developing certain types of cancer.

“My master’s thesis focused on our work with Camp Lejeune,” says Partain. “I used the timeline and the narrative to illustrate what we did as a social justice movement, the steps we took to get control over the narrative about what happened. Having this memorialized — how we did what we did — will help other communities facing similar situations.”

Included in the PACT Act is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which will allow veterans, families and other individuals who worked or lived for at least 30 days on the base from Aug. 1, 1953, to Dec. 31, 1987, to sue for harm and exposure to contaminated water.

On June 16, 2022, Senate voted to pass the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The bill also prohibits the government from asserting immunity from litigation in response to a lawsuit. No punitive damages can be recovered in any legal action under this act. Undoubtedly, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act is on the verge of becoming law. If the bill is signed into law by President Biden, toxic exposure victims will have 2 years to seek financial compensation from the government, starting with the date the Camp Lejeune Justice Ace is enacted.

“My first reaction is to get mad. But then I have to reel back and say, ‘You know, I can’t get mad about it because I can’t undo it,’” Derrick said. “I mean, it’s done, and all these other people, their health issues, they can’t take that back. So on behalf of all the other people, we have got to get justice and have accountability.

Eligibility for VA health care is also expanded under the Act. Now Gulf War and post 9/11 veterans are eligible if they served in theater of combat operations during a period of war after the Persian Gulf War or served in combat during a period of hostilities after November 11, 1998.

We’re doing our part by ensuring Delaware Veterans know the benefits they are entitled to with the passage of the PACT Act. The VA is considering 23 new presumptive conditions for benefits, meaning any Veteran who may be eligible for benefits should apply for them as soon as possible. If you need help accessing care or knowing if you’re eligible, please contact our offices.

Burn pits are large areas where military waste is incinerated in the open air. Chemicals, weapons and ammunition, metals, medical and human waste, plastics and rubber are all burned, often with jet fuel as an accelerant, resulting in toxic pollution. A 2020 survey by the advocacy organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that 86 percent of respondents were exposed to these burn pits or other toxins during their service.

They protested the denial of care to veterans and talked about the rates of suicide, incarceration and invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder, affecting more than 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

According to investigators, hundreds of thousands of Marines and their families living on base were exposed to well water contaminated by cleaning solvents between 1953 and 1987. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, part of the PACT Act signed this month, lets military families who lived on base during that time sue for relief.

The measure — signed into law on Aug. 10 — includes almost $300 billion in new financial benefits for veterans suffering from illnesses caused by burn pit smoke in Iraq and Afghanistan, Agent Orange spraying in Vietnam, and several other military toxic exposure events.

Partain said he and his friend, Jerry Ensminger, an ex-Marine whose 9-year-old daughter died of leukemia in 1985 while the family lived at Camp Lejeune, "have fought tooth and nail" on the issue for 15 and 25-plus years, respectively.

So I started digging into the regulations and reports. It was all online. There was the Army Regulation saying “no burn pits.” It was pretty easy to map out the story. You’re not allowed to burn a fire in your backyard in the United States, right? This is 240 tons and an open pit. So it really wasn’t that hard of a story to report out. But no one else had done it.