Jon Stewart says Bost is trying to water down care for vets exposed to toxic burn pits
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday to include a statement from a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Mike Bost.
Jon Stewart called out U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of southern Illinois Wednesday for planning to introduce an amendment Stewart says will water down proposed health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
Stewart spoke at a press conference in Washington, D.C., with Democratic lawmakers and veterans, the day after President Joe Biden called on Congress to take action on benefits. Lawmakers were expected to consider a bill addressing toxic exposure on Thursday.
Bost, the ranking Republican member of the VA Committee, will try to undo the bill’s comprehensive expansion of benefits, said Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show and longtime veterans advocate.
“Ranking member Bost’s amendment is going to say, ‘Damn, that’s good work. So, why don’t we just switch that out for five more years of health care? We good? Thanks, guys, we’re good.’ (Expletive) that. Not happening.”
Stewart’s portrayal of Bost’s bill was a “misrepresentation” of his efforts, a spokeswoman for the representative said in a statement.
“As a veteran from a military family, it goes without saying that Ranking Member Bost knows the cost, impact, and toll of war firsthand,” spokeswoman Alexandra Naughton said in an email.
“The Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act already passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and would get life-saving healthcare to post-9/11 combat veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins in service to our country as the first step in a multi-phased approach to improving benefits and services to toxic-exposed veterans. The House can — and should — send it to the President’s desk to become law today. Instead, House Democrats are making sick veterans in need of care wait while the House considers the partisan PACT Act instead. The PACT Act has a number of serious policy flaws, would cost taxpayers more than $300 billion, and is unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form.”
In his State of the Union address, Biden wondered if exposure to burn pits may have caused his son Beau’s rare brain cancer. He died in 2015.
“We don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops,” Biden said. “But I’m committed to finding out everything we can.”
The bill, called the PACT Act, has four pillars, said Democratic U.S. Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz of California, an emergency medicine physician and public health expert. It stops the use of burn pits, provides information to doctors and veterans about the health risks of exposure, extends health care to veterans and their families, and expands research on diseases.
“Our bill will address the full gamut of issues affecting toxic-exposed veterans,” said Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California.
The bill will open up VA health care for 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic burn pits and ensure coverage for 23 additional respiratory illnesses and cancers, Takano said. It includes a “presumption of service” provision, which presumes toxic exposure caused a health condition.
Exposure to burn pits is common among servicemembers, including those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the VA. The pits burned chemicals, metal, munitions, petroleum, rubber and other waste.
Ruiz, who founded a congressional caucus on burn pits in 2018, said his work was inspired by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Kepner, an Air Force veteran who died at 38 of cancer likely caused by exposure to burn pits.
“She had been denied her benefits. She said, ‘Please, congressman, help my husband, Ben, get the benefits so he can take care of our children,” Ruiz said. “She died months later.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said cost should not be an issue when considering paying for “the cost of war.”
“When it comes up, I don’t want anyone bringing up the dollar amount because what we are looking at is the value of what this does for our country,” Pelosi said at the news conference.
Bost has said lawmakers should be concerned about cost.
“Speaking as a veteran myself, veterans are taxpayers, too. We should be mindful of how we spend their money on their behalf,” Bost said at a January roundtable, according to NPR.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 3:05 PM.
