Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall split as Senate Republicans block toxic burn pit bill

Federal legislation designed to help veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service has stalled in Congress after Republican senators blocked it.

The Kansas delegation split on the Wednesday vote.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Manhattan, pleaded with colleagues to support the legislation. Moran is the top Republican on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

"We should not let this moment pass," Moran said in a floor speech. "There are veterans who are dying every day. There are veterans who have died since this legislation was introduced."

The legislation is intended to make it easier for veterans sickened by burn pits used to incinerate waste to access health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Moran has long fought to address treatment for veterans exposed to toxins.

The bill is formally known as the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022. It previously passed the Senate last month on a bipartisan 84-14 vote. All nays were Republicans.

After undergoing technical corrections to drafting errors and a change in bill numbers, it passed the House in a 342-88 vote and was sent back to the Senate.

The Kansas delegation was split in the House. Sharice Davids, D-Shawnee, and Jake LaTurner, R-Topeka, voted for the bill. Ron Estes, R-Wichita, and Tracey Mann, R-Salina, voted against it.

The bill failed a procedural vote to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold when 41 Republicans opposed it.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, flipped after previously supporting the bill.

"As written, there is language in this bill that creates an opportunity for $400 billion to be spent on priorities totally unrelated to veterans," a Marshall spokesperson said Friday in an emailed statement.

"Senator Marshall is seeking to modify the legislation to remove that reckless spending in a way that would not reduce spending on veterans by even $1. At a time of record inflation and news we are in a recession, decreasing spending should be top of mind. Senator Marshall previously supported final passage and will work to ensure quick passage of the legislation with this budgetary issue addressed."

Advocates push for action before Senate recess

Marshall wasn't alone in citing financial concerns, but some Democrats contend that veterans became collateral damage in Republican opposition to a unrelated budget reconciliation measure. That plan would include spending on energy, climate and health insurance.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana and the chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, accused Republicans of robbing veterans of medical benefits. "More veterans will suffer and die as a result," he said in the statement.

"Dozens of Senate Republicans turned their backs on our nation's veterans and robbed them their hard-earned care and benefits," Tester said in a tweet. "This is a slap in the face of every member of our all-volunteer military."

Former "Daily Show" comedian Jon Stewart delivered an expletive-laden speech at a Thursday news conference putting public pressure on Congress. He was critical of Republicans who labeled it a $400 billion slush fund.

"That's nonsense," Stewart said.

He said politicians support the war machine, not the troops.

"They haven't met a war they won't sign up for and they haven't met a veteran they won't screw over," Stewart said.

Even if the PACT Act passes, veterans will continue to struggle, Stewart said.

"All it means is they won't have to decide between their cancer drugs and their house," he said.

Gov. Laura Kelly has backed the bill, noting her role as commander in chief of the Kansas National Guard.

"I stand with @JerryMoran and @RepDavids in supporting expanding essential health care for our veterans exposed to toxins," Kelly said in a Friday tweet. "Senators from both sides of the aisle need to work together to pass the PACT Act immediately — and not jeopardize the wellbeing of our country's bravest."

Moran urged his colleagues to resolve their differences so that the legislation could pass.

"The work that needs to be accomplished today, now, this week, is the passage of the PACT Act," he said, "so that our veterans who are encountering significant medical challenges have the care and benefits that come from being a veteran."

Advocates had been hopeful that Congress would send the legislation to President Joe Biden before the Senate starts a month-long recess Tuesday.

"You're not allowed to just leave your post when the mission isn't completed," Stewart said of soldiers, contrasting it with senators who may soon go on vacation.

Obligation to fund health care benefits

"This major piece of legislation that has been a long time coming," Moran said. "Way too long, in meeting the needs of those veterans who served now a long time ago in Vietnam, and in Southeast Asia, and our veterans who more recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan."

For the 21st century wars in the Middle East, burn pits have been identified as a source of toxic exposure. For Vietnam, it was Agent Orange.

Toxic exposures have presented difficulties for veterans in accessing health care because often the negative affects weren't immediate. The bill would expand VA health benefits to more than 3.5 million veterans.

"Veterans have waited for a long time," Moran said. "The process to date has been so slow. The legislative efforts, while they have occurred, were never sufficient to meet the needs of those who served our nation."

Further, he said, the Department of Veterans Affairs delayed helping people who "were not receiving the medical care that they deserved and not being able to acquire the financial benefits that come from being disabled as a result of military service."

Moran said military service members are owed the promises the country made.

"We then have an obligation not only to fund the military activities," he said, "but to fund the programs and benefits that are necessary to care for those who served, who as a result of their service, are damaged mentally, physically, socially and emotionally."

Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Senate, Kansans Jerry Moran, Roger Marshall on toxic burn pit bill