NewsBytes April 22, 2022
In this issue:
Ask Senate to Pass the “Honoring Our PACT Act” Now!
Gold Star Family Day Bill Introduced
Global War on Terror Memorial on Capitol Mall
Ask Senate to Pass the “Honoring Our PACT Act” Now!
The House has passed the “Honoring Our PACT Act” (H.R.3967) sponsored by the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) Chairman Mark Takano (Calif.). Now the Senate needs to pass it. The bill would allow for the first time all veterans who were at risk of toxic exposure, including 3.5 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, to obtain immediate and lifelong access to health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) — one of the largest expansions of health care eligibility in the VA’s history. The bill would provide presumptive care for numerous conditions for veterans sickened by exposure to burn pits and other toxins. This bill (H.R.3967) would also establish a new science-based and veteran-focused process for the establishment of new presumptive conditions and would provide benefits to thousands of toxic exposure veterans who have been long-ignored or forgotten, including Agent Orange veterans suffering from hypertension. Members are urged to use the FRA Action to contact their Senators to ask them to support this bill.
Gold Star Family Day Bill Introduced
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Joni Ernst (Iowa), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced the “Gold Star Families Day Act” (S.3734), that would dedicate the last Monday in September as a federal holiday in observance and recognition of sacrifice that all Gold Star Family members make when a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or other loved one dies in service to the nation.
“Gold Star Families make incredible sacrifices for our country, and that’s why I’m introducing Gold Star Families Day Act with Senator Ernst - to honor and respect the painful sacrifice that continually lives with the families of our fallen heroes,” said Warren.
“For the countless American families spanning generations who have given and sacrificed so much to defend our nation and protect our freedoms and way of life, our country is eternally grateful to you. As a combat veteran, I’m honored to join with my colleague Senator Warren in leading the Senate on this measure to recognize the sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters of the fallen who solemnly and proudly display the Gold Star,” said Ernst.
Members can weigh in on this issue with the FRA Action Center .
Future GWOT Memorial will be Located on Capitol Mall
The enacted FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L.117-81) authorizes that the future Global War on Terror (GWOT) memorial to be placed in Washington D.C. on the National Mall, which is a unit of the United States National Park System. It is located near the downtown area of Washington, D.C. and is administered by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The memorial will be dedicated to the 2.7 million troops who served since Sept. 11, 2001. In 2017, then President Trump approved the “Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act” that exempted this memorial from the law that requires a 10-year wait after an official end of the war for building a memorial on the Capitol Mall.
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