A bill to protect veterans exposed to toxic materials while serving was defeated in the Senate yesterday, in a 55-42 vote that fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the legislation.
Of the 42 senators who voted against the Pact ACT, 41 were Republicans. Here are all the Republican senators who voted against the bill:
- John A. Barrasso, WY
- Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
- Roy Blunt, Mo.
- Mike Braun, IN
- Richard Burr, North Carolina
- Bill Cassidy, LA
- John Cornyn, Texas
- Tom Cotton, AR
- Kevin Cramer, ND
- Mike Crapo, ID
- Ted Cruz, Texas,
- Steve Daines, MT
- Joni Ernst, RN
- Deb Fischer, NE
- Bill Hagerty, Tennessee
- Josh Hawley, Mo.
- Cindy Hyde-Smith, MS
- Jim Inhofe, okay
- Ron Johnson, Wis.
- John Neely Kennedy, LA
- James Lankford, okay
- Mike Lee, UT
- Cynthia Lummis, WY
- Roger Marshall, KS
- Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
- Rand Paul, KY
- Rob Portman, Ohio
- Jim Risch, ID
- Mitt Romney, UT
- Mike Rounds, SD
- Ben Sasse, NE
- Rick Scott, Florida
- Tim Scott, SC
- Richard Shelby, AL
- Dan Sullivan, AK
- John Thune, SD
- Thom Tillis, North Carolina
- Patrick Toomey, PA
- Tommy Tuberville, AL
- Roger Wicker, MS
- Todd Young, IN
Only one Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted against the bill. Two Democrats and one Republican abstained, while 47 Democrats, 8 Republicans and 2 independents voted to pass the bill.
The vote came as a surprise, as the bill originally passed the Senate 84-14 on June 16 and received overwhelming Republican support. The bill was ready to pass in the House, but the bill was delayed because a section of it was debated by Veterans Affairs Committee leaders.
On July 13, the House overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan expansion of health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxins and sent the package back to the Senate with only minor modification.
But the vote was radically different from just a few weeks ago.
Although not all Republican senators who voted against the bill have publicly explained why they did so, Republican Senator Toomey told the Senate that he voted against the bill because it would create $400 billion. dollars of unrelated expenses.
“My concern about this bill has nothing to do with the intent of the bill,” Toomey said. “This budget stuff is so irrelevant to the real issue for veterans that has to do with fireplaces, that it’s not even in the House version of this bill.”
Schumer, who had voted “yes” the previous time and strongly supported the bill, changed his vote to “no” as a simple procedural gesture allowing him to reconsider the closure vote at any time.
“It’s a sad day in the United States Senate,” Senate Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee Chairman and Democratic Senator from Montana Jon Tester said after the vote.
“The American people are tired of the games that play out in this body.”
In an eleventh-hour act of cowardice, Republicans today chose to deprive generations of toxic-exposed veterans across the country of the health care and benefits they have earned and needed. desperately need.
Make no mistake, the American people have had enough of these games. pic.twitter.com/w2ZUcGzGpT
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) July 27, 2022
The bill, which was introduced by Tester and Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, called for the expansion of health care and disability benefits for veterans who had been exposed to toxic materials while serving. military.
New legislation would expand care for 3.5 million veterans who have been exposed to burns since 9/11 in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, adding 23 toxic and exposure-related illnesses to burn sites in the VA database.
The bill would also expand support for Vietnam-era veterans who have been exposed to Agent Orange in places like American Samoa, Cambodia, Guam, Johnston Atoll, Laos and Thailand.
The whole package is expected to cost some $278.5 billion over the next decade, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“Defenders died fighting for this bill. Instead of spending their last days with their families, they fought to help their fellow veterans,” veteran Ted Corcoran wrote on Twitter.
“Now more veterans will die waiting for help that was just within reach but may never come. Never thank me for my service again.”
The bill could be called for another vote by its supporters.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
