{"id":77878,"date":"2023-08-08T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/08\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:48:13","slug":"honoring-our-pact-to-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/2023\/08\/08\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring our \u2018PACT\u2019 to veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, on Aug. 10, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the historic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/08\/10\/biden-signs-burn-pit-exposure-health-care-bill-into-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act<\/a>, more commonly called the PACT Act, that I\u2019d introduced \u2014 and passed thanks to strong bipartisan support \u2014 as then-Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within an hour of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/resources\/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">PACT Act becoming law, the Department of Veterans Affairs had its website live<\/a>, allowing veterans and their survivors to immediately start filing claims and scheduling appointments for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/11\/07\/new-va-toxic-exposure-screening-starts-nov-8\/\" target=\"_blank\">toxic exposure screenings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The impact was felt instantly, as the VA could <i>automatically<\/i> presume that they were exposed to harmful toxins, based on when and where a veteran served. Nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/08\/04\/now-that-the-pact-act-passed-how-soon-will-veterans-see-their-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">1 in 5 veterans became eligible for additional care and benefits<\/a>, and in just under a year, over four million veterans have received toxic exposure screenings and hundreds of thousands of toxic-exposed veterans and their survivors have received approved claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5157\" height=\"3438\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Danielle and Brielle Robinson, the wife and daughter of Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died of cancer two years ago watch as President Joe Biden signs the &quot;PACT Act of 2022&quot; during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Washington.\" class=\"wp-image-107418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg 5157w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23215779647044.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5157px) 100vw, 5157px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FILE &#8211; Danielle and Brielle Robinson, the wife and daughter of Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died of cancer two years ago watch as President Joe Biden signs the &#8220;PACT Act of 2022&#8221; during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Washington. (Evan Vucci\/AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so, I encourage all veterans who were or think they were exposed to toxins during their service to schedule a toxic-exposure screening at a local VA clinic and file a claim at <a href=\"http:\/\/va.gov\/PACT\" target=\"_blank\">VA.gov\/PACT<\/a>, ASAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no deadline, but if you file a claim or submit an intent to file before Aug. 9, you may also qualify to receive backdated benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For decades, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/burn-pits\/2022\/03\/07\/harmless-or-hazardous-troops-say-chemicals-and-medical-waste-burned-at-balad-are-making-them-sick-but-officials-deny-risk\/\" target=\"_blank\">millions of our service members and veterans were becoming sick from exposure to dangerous toxins during their service<\/a>. And yet, after sacrificing so much for our country, veterans and their families were being denied the crucial healthcare and benefits they so desperately needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previous Congresses and the Department of Veterans Affairs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/06\/07\/as-burn-pit-problems-linger-advocates-worry-va-and-dod-are-moving-too-slow\/\" target=\"_blank\">were not doing enough to help care for these veterans<\/a>, so I\u2019d brought together my colleagues and veterans\u2019 service organizations around one simple idea: it should not be a partisan issue to provide the care our veterans need, and the bill had to be as comprehensive as possible to leave no cohort of toxic-exposed veterans behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together, we likeminded lawmakers and veterans advocates brought about the largest expansion of veteran\u2019s health care and benefits in more than 30 years, and I am incredibly proud of how it has been able to already help veterans and their survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we celebrate the PACT Act and all it has been able to accomplish in a year, I implore all my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to recognize that we must not rest now. This fight is far from over: we must continue to pay for all the costs of war. We must work to ensure that no toxic-exposed veteran is left without the care they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A year ago, I fought for this bill to honor our veterans lost to toxic exposure and the loving families they have left behind, to aid our veterans now battling rare illnesses and those still living undiagnosed and to support our brave men and women currently serving in our military and the next generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., is the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Have an opinion?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This article is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please <\/i><a href=\"mailto:opinions@militarytimes.com\"><i>email us<\/i><\/a><i>. Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/link.militarytimes.com\/join\/5b9\/sign-up-opinion\"><i>Subscribe to get our Commentary &amp; Opinion newsletter<\/i><\/a><i> once a week.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week marks one year since the PACT Act, legislation expanding health and disability benefits for veterans, was signed into law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":92362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,100,23,25,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[952],"class_list":["post-77878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3ND5AQYYEVHFFBD6YEB26PSRLU","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2023\/08\/08\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Honoring our \u2018PACT\u2019 to veterans - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week marks one year since the PACT Act, legislation expanding health and disability benefits for veterans, was signed into law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honoring our \u2018PACT\u2019 to veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week marks one year since the PACT Act, legislation expanding health and disability benefits for veterans, was signed into law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/2023\/08\/08\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-08T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T14:48:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rep. Mark Takano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rep. Mark Takano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/08\\\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/08\\\/honoring-our-pact-to-veterans\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Honoring our \u2018PACT\u2019 to veterans\",\n\t      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