Ron Johnson 'plans to support' veterans toxic burn pits bill after delay over funding concerns
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WASHINGTON – Ron Johnson’s office indicated the Wisconsin senator will back legislation this week that would expand health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits despite voting days earlier against advancing the bill over what he said were funding concerns.
The Oshkosh Republican “plans to support” the so-called Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act when it comes up for a vote this week, his spokeswoman, Alexa Henning, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Johnson last Wednesday joined the majority of his GOP colleagues in successfully voting against ending debate on the bill, taking issue with a portion of the measure he said allows for “reckless” spending unrelated to veterans affairs.
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Supporters of the legislation have pushed back on claims that money wouldn't be used for veterans and noted that the spending issue cited by Republicans that would recategorize funding in the bill was not new and had been in the version that passed the Senate in June by a vote of 84-14.
Johnson at the time voted against ending debate on the bill but ultimately voted in favor of passing the legislation when it came to a full vote.
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It returned to the Senate last week after a change unrelated to the spending debate was made in the House.
“The senator had had the same concern the first time the bill came before the Senate in June, he voted against cloture, but ultimately supported the bill and plans to again,” Henning said. “He voted no on cloture Wednesday to insist on having the ability to amend the bill to correct this.”
“Sen. Johnson unequivocally supports providing coverage to service members affected by toxic burn pit exposure,” Henning added in a statement. “He has also been consistent in wanting to fix the extraneous provision that could be used to allow an additional $400 billion dollars in spending over the next 10 years unrelated to veterans.”
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor Monday indicated the chamber would take up the bill again “in the coming days.” It was not clear whether the body would consider an amendment proposed by Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey that aims to address the spending concerns.
"We're going to give Senate Republicans another a chance to do the right thing," Schumer said.
The GOP senators who temporarily blocked the bill drew criticism from Democrats and veterans' groups, some of whom accused Republicans of holding up the legislation in response to a short-notice climate and tax deal between Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
But Republicans insisted the delay was to encourage more discussion on the bill.
Toomey on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday said his amendment “will not change by one penny any spending on any veterans program.” Rather, he said, it would make $400 billion in the bill subject to annual appropriations discussions.
“This doesn’t cut a dime in veteran spending, but it would avoid creating this huge hole for all kinds of new and unrelated spending," he told CNN's Jake Tapper.
Still, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough suggested the amendment could affect getting proper aide to veterans.
“In fact, he puts a year-on-year cap on what we spend, and at the end of 10 years, the fund goes away under his amendment,” McDonough said of Toomey on the same program Sunday. “The impact of that would be, if his estimations are wrong about what we’ll spend in any given year, that means that we may have to ration care for veterans.”
Toomey said he would back the bill if his amendment passes. When asked by the Journal Sentinel if Johnson would support the legislation should Toomey's amendment fail, Henning, the spokesperson, said Johnson "plans to support it like last time."
The PACT Act would expand VA health care eligibility to more than 3.5 million post-9/11 combat veterans. It would also, in part, add 23 medical conditions related to burn pits and toxic exposures to the VA's list of service presumptions.
Wisconsin's Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has expressed her support for the effort and in 2021 helped introduce a bill to help veterans exposed to toxic substances at the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan, known as K2.
The PACT Act includes expanded VA health care eligibility for K2 veterans exposed to "cancer-causing toxic chemicals and radiological hazards" during their deployments, according to Baldwin's office.
Baldwin last week spoke out against Republicans who voted against advancing the PACT Act, tweeting that veterans "deserve better than to have Senate Republicans play political games with their rightfully earned health care."
Contact Lawrence Andrea at landrea@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson 'plans to support' toxic burn pits bill after delay
