{"id":65948,"date":"2020-09-15T15:51:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T15:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/15\/jon-stewart-leads-renewed-fight-on-benefits-for-burn-pit-victims\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:45:24","slug":"jon-stewart-leads-renewed-fight-on-benefits-for-burn-pit-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/09\/15\/jon-stewart-leads-renewed-fight-on-benefits-for-burn-pit-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Stewart leads renewed fight on benefits for burn pit victims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans advocates on Tuesday launched a new campaign for additional recognition and aid for troops exposed to toxic burn pit fumes<\/a> during overseas deployments at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, saying time is running out to provide real help to the victims<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not about science, this is about money,\u201d said comedian Jon Stewart<\/a> in an emotional press conference on Capitol Hill featuring numerous families of dead and dying veterans whose rare illnesses aren\u2019t officially recognized by federal officials as stemming from burn pit exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen to these families \u2026 Delaying care and waiting for veterans to die is not a mantle worthy of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday\u2019s event coincided with new legislation introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., which would provide presumptive benefit status for any veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars, as well as a host of other overseas military sites where burn pits were frequently used.<\/p>\n\n\n\t