Jon Stewart Uses His Celebrity To Bring Attention To Vets Exposed To Burn Pits

НОВОРОССИЯ.RU
17 Сен 2020, 00:54

Enlarge this image

Comedian, writer and veterans advocate Jon Stewart speaks at a press conference on «The Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act of 2020» at the House Triangle in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Politics
Jon Stewart Blasts Lawmakers In Hearing For Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund

Stewart didn’t think he’d be back in Washington after his last testimony.

«We thought it was done,» Stewart said, «but it turns out that the veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering the same illnesses and the same toxic exposures, because of the actions of our own government.»

Hundreds of thousands of troops have signed on the VA’s registry for those who believe they were exposed to burn pits. His voice filled with anger, Stewart said lawmakers should try creating burn pits in the towns of their home districts.

«And when your constituents come to you and say, ‘what’s with this thick black acrid smoke?’, just say ‘I think it’s fine,'» he said, «but if you have lung cancer, you can’t actually prove that it was the smoke.»

That’s the kind of response veterans say they get from the VA when they try to get health benefits based on toxic exposure overseas. As recently as last week, the National Academy of Sciences published a report that couldn’t link the burn pits to cancers and other illness. But that’s not the same as proving there is no link.

«What the National Academy of Sciences said last Friday is, there is no data,» said former VA Secretary David Shulkin, speaking at the same event.

«We have a backwards system, that doesn’t honor our commitment that we made to these men and women when we send them into conflict,» Shulkin said. «When there is no data available, but there’s a plausible explanation and veterans are suffering, we have to give veterans the benefit of doubt.»

For Danielle Robinson, that’s the opposite of what the government has done so far. Robinson spoke on the Capitol steps alongside Stewart and other advocates. Her husband was posted next to a burn pit in Iraq. He died in April, leaving behind a young daughter.

National Security
Veterans Claiming Illness From Burn Pits Lose Court Fight

«Now paint this picture in your head: A little girl walking into the bathroom on multiple occasions, finding her daddy bent over, gasping for breath, and blood is everywhere on the floor,» she said.

Robinson, a widow at 35, thanked Stewart for speaking out.

«But at the same time it’s a national disgrace that our war heroes need celebrities to speak out on their behalf to get this addressed. Veterans voices don’t seem to matter to the same people who sent them off to war in the first place,» she said.

Many have compared the burn pits issue to Agent Orange, a defoliant that made thousands of Vietnam vets sick – some of whom still aren’t covered by the VA. Now, a bill sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) would cover anyone who served at dozens of documented burn pits and toxic exposure sites.

«More than three million service members could have been exposed to toxic burn pits, yet the VA continues to deny them care by placing the burden of proof on veterans suffering from rare cancers, lung diseases, and respiratory illnesses,» said Gillibrand, » The bottom line is that our veterans served our country, they are sick and they need health care — period.»

Gillibrand is seeking Republican cosponsors, many of whom have supported other burn pit legislation in the past.

Members of Congress walked by as the event went on. Stewart said this is just the beginning.

«And we’re going to fill this space with veterans and victims until those Congress people who you saw walk by here with not a care in the world about what these families have gone through, until they’re forced to face it,» he said.