Sanders Says GOP Shouldn’t Have Funded Wars If It Didn’t Want to Take Care of Vets
Calling out Sen. Pat Toomey by name, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said Republicans blocking a bill aimed at providing care to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals overseas should not have voted to fund the wars that created the health nightmare for millions of people.
“I say to Senator Toomey, if you don’t believe we can afford to take care of our veterans suffering from toxic burn pit exposure, then you should not have approved funding to go to war,” said Sanders (I-Vt.), who voted to authorize the U.S. war in Afghanistan but against the Iraq invasion.
“Taking care of our veterans is the cost of war—period,” Sanders added. “End of discussion.”
Burn pits have been used by the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries to dispose of waste accumulated on military bases, despite warnings that such a method risked the large-scale release of toxic fumes, exposing both American troops and civilians living nearby. The Pentagon estimates that some 3.5 million U.S. troops have suffered health issues stemming from exposure to toxic chemicals spewing from burn pits.
Toomey, a retiring Pennsylvania Republican, has led the GOP’s opposition to the Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022, claiming the bill contains “a budgetary gimmick” that would spark a “huge explosion in unrelated spending,” and that the spending would be mandatory instead of discretionary. Supporters of the bill have rejected Toomey’s attack, calling it a manufactured excuse to justify tanking the measure.
Toomey is attempting to force the inclusion of an amendment that the Department of Veterans Affairs warns would force the federal government to “ration care for veterans.”
The Honoring Our PACT Act passed the Senate easily in June, with just 14 Republicans—including Toomey—voting no, but administrative tweaks to the legislation made another vote necessary. Dozens of Republicans have since changed their position on the bill, leading Democrats to accuse them of retaliating over renewed efforts to pass a party-line reconciliation bill.
The veterans’ healthcare legislation would, of course, do nothing for Iraqis, Afghans, and others exposed to toxic chemicals due to the United States’ violent invasions and occupations of their home countries.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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