{"id":67267,"date":"2022-03-02T03:54:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T03:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/02\/biden-vows-va-will-do-better-on-veterans-burn-pit-illnesses\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:52:19","slug":"biden-vows-va-will-do-better-on-veterans-burn-pit-illnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2022\/03\/02\/biden-vows-va-will-do-better-on-veterans-burn-pit-illnesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden vows VA will do better on veterans\u2019 burn pit illnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Joe Biden on March 1 invoked his status as the father of a fallen soldier in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/03\/01\/biden-promises-more-aid-for-ukraine-more-punishment-for-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\">State of the Union<\/a> promise to improve veterans health care and benefits, specifically focused on individuals suffering from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/03\/01\/burn-pit-benefits-veterans-care-to-be-major-themes-of-bidens-state-of-the-union-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\">effects of toxic burn pit smoke<\/a> from their time deployed overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m calling on Congress: pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they deserve,\u201d Biden said in his national address, calling it part of \u201ca sacred obligation to equip all those we send to war and care for them and their families when they come home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in the day, the White House announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs will recognize nine new respiratory illnesses as conditions presumed linked to veterans\u2019 military service, fast tracking them for payouts and medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/01\/05\/new-in-2022-when-will-all-burn-pit-victims-finally-get-veterans-benefits\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/201595.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New in 2022: When will all burn pit victims finally get veterans benefits?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Advocates saw progress on their efforts in 2021, but hope for even more in 2022.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials said the move will likely affect only about 100 veterans who were previously denied for claims linked to those rare cancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Biden framed the move as \u201cpioneering new ways of linking toxic exposures to diseases, which is already helping more veterans get benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent months, VA officials have expanded the scientific and medical evidence used to determine service-connected disabilities in an effort to ease the burden on veterans seeking disability benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said in coming months, \u201cVA will continue to gather as much science and evidence as possible to move swiftly for veterans facing serious illnesses due to military exposures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For years, advocates have lamented the slow pace of VA officials to recognize illnesses caused by toxic smoke from military burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas bases. Biden highlighted the issue in his national speech, saying that the government is long overdue in responding to the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur troops in Iraq and Afghanistan faced many dangers,\u201d he said. \u201cOne was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic smoke from \u201cburn pits\u201d that incinerated wastes of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen they came home, many of the world\u2019s fittest and best trained warriors were never the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That group included Biden\u2019s son Beau, who served in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard and died in 2015 from a rare brain cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops,\u201d Biden said. \u201cBut I\u2019m committed to finding out everything we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inclusion of burn pits issues and other veterans policy in the State of the Union was unusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, those topics have received just passing mentions alongside other domestic and national security priorities. This year, Biden devoted about five percent of his speech to the topic, on par with issues like border security and voting rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/02\/22\/sweeping-burn-pit-benefits-bill-set-for-house-vote-next-week\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/burn-pitjpg.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Sweeping burn pit benefits bill set for House vote next week<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The measure could provide new veterans benefits to as many as one in every five living veterans.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, House Democrats will hold a rally on Capitol Hill to push for sweeping toxic exposure legislation, responding to Biden\u2019s charge. The measure \u2014 dubbed the PACT Act \u2014 has received praise from veterans groups but concerns from conservatives over its price tag: about $207 billion over 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In attendance at the State of the Union speech as one of the first lady\u2019s guests was Danielle Robinson, a veterans advocate and widow of Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson, who died from cancer linked to burn pit exposure in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biden hailed him as a hero for his military service and his medical fights afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey loved going to Ohio State football games,\u201d he said. \u201cHe loved building Legos with his daughter. But cancer from prolonged exposure to burn pits ravaged Heath\u2019s lungs and body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDanielle says Heath was a fighter to the very end. He didn\u2019t know how to stop fighting, and neither did she. Through her pain she found purpose to demand we do better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are going to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The president used his State of the Union address to promise more benefits and help for military toxic exposure victims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":102466,"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":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-67267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2AGYOZYYV5FCNFJJPQEGX3BYOY","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2022\/03\/01\/biden-vows-va-will-do-better-on-veterans-burn-pit-illnesses\/","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>Biden vows VA will do better on veterans\u2019 burn pit illnesses - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The president used his State of the Union address to promise more benefits and help for military toxic exposure victims.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/03\/02\/biden-vows-va-will-do-better-on-veterans-burn-pit-illnesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Biden vows VA will do better on veterans\u2019 burn pit illnesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 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