{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=2BF1F76B-4329-4601-A18B-CAC129FE95E8", "BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes SFC Heath Robinson PACT Act", "2022-08-02", "2022", "2022-08", "Republican", "Senate", "KS", "Jerry Moran", "M000934", "www.moran.senate.gov", "moran", "https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 This evening, the U.S. Senate passed the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 with a vote of 86-11. This historic and bipartisan legislation was introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) \u2013 the ranking member and chairman of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee. This legislation now heads to the President\u2019s desk to be signed into law.\n\n\u201cThis is an historic moment for our nation\u2019s veterans,\u201d said Sen. Moran. \u201cSen. Tester and I made a commitment to get to this point today, and despite procedural hurdles, the Senate took consequential action to provide all generations of veterans their earned health care by passing the SFC Heath Robinson PACT Act. Thousands of veterans who answered the call to serve after the terrorist attack on 9/11 suffer the health consequences of exposure to open burn pits. Many of these veterans are simultaneously experiencing a battle with the VA to gain access to the health care and benefits they desperately need. This legislation will provide comprehensive relief for all generations of veterans, from Agent Orange to the 3.5 million post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits during their deployments. Our nation\u2019s veterans and their families will no longer have to fear being turned away from the VA for illnesses related to toxic-exposures.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you to SFC Heath Robinson\u2019s family and all the veterans and advocates for their input and commitment to get this long-overdue bill passed through Congress,\u201d continued Sen. Moran. \u201cI urge the President to quickly sign this legislation into law.\u201d\n\nThis legislation passed the Senate with a vote of 84-14 in June, but was amended with a technical fix in the House of Representatives which required an additional vote in the Senate.\n\nThe SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act will deliver all generations of toxic-exposed veterans their earned health care and benefits under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the first time in the nation\u2019s history. For more than a year, Sens. Moran and Tester led negotiations between Democrats, Republicans, House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, Ranking Member Mike Bost, the Biden Administration, Veterans Service Organizations and advocates.\n\nSergeant First Class Heath Robinson deployed to Kosovo and Iraq with the Ohio National Guard. He died in 2020 from toxic exposure as a result of his military service. Among its many priorities, the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022 will:\n\nExpand VA health care eligibility to Post-9/11 combat veterans, which includes more than 3.5 million toxic-exposed veterans;\n\nCreate a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure;\n\nAdd 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to VA\u2019s list of service presumptions;\n\nExpand presumptions related to Agent Orange exposure;\n\nIncludes Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll as locations for Agent Orange exposure;\n\nStrengthen federal research on toxic exposure;\n\nImprove VA\u2019s resources for toxic-exposed veterans and training for VA health care and benefits professionals; and\n\nSet VA and veterans up for success by investing in:\n\nVA claims processing;\n\nVA\u2019s workforce; and\n\nVA health care facilities.\n\nAs leaders of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, Sens. Moran and Tester have long been dedicated to identifying a path forward for unaddressed toxic exposure issues alongside Veterans Service Organizations\u2014remaining committed to delivering comprehensive relief to all generations of toxic-exposed veterans.\n\nSen. Moran spoke on the Senate floor this evening in support of passing the SFC Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022.\n\nClick HERE to Watch Sen. Moran\u2019s Full Remarks\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:26:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=2BF1F76B-4329-4601-A18B-CAC129FE95E8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9816871024668217, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}