The White House announced Tuesday that more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans under the PACT Act, which went became law in August 2022.
That amounts to about 888,000 veterans and survivors in all 50 states who have been able to receive disability benefits under the law and totals about $5.7 billion in benefits given to veterans and their survivors, according to the Biden administration.
The law helps veterans get key benefits as a result of burn pit or other toxic exposure during their service.
In 2023, veterans submitted more than 2.4 million claims, a 39 percent increase from 2022, for a total of 4.17 million claims since the PACT act became law.
President Joe Biden praised the milestone during an event Tuesday with veterans and their families in Nashua, New Hampshire.
“We can never fully thank you for all the sacrifices you’ve made," Biden said. “In America, we leave no veteran behind. That’s our motto.”
Before Biden's planned remarks, he went to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in nearby Merrimack. The president met with Lisa Clark, an Air Force veteran who is receiving benefits through the PACT Act because her late husband, Senior Master Sgt. Carl Clark, was exposed to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Signing the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act into law was deeply personal for Biden.
The president has blamed burn pits for the brain cancer that killed his son Beau, who served in Iraq, and vowed repeatedly that he would get the PACT Act into law.
Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were disposed of on military bases and were used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The president, I think, has believed now for too long, too many veterans who got sick serving and fighting for our country had to fight the VA for their care, too," Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters on Monday.
Before the PACT Act became law, the Department of Veterans Affairs denied 70% of disability claims that involved burn pit exposure.
Now, the law requires the VA to assume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit or other toxic exposure without the veterans having to prove the link.
“For far too long, our nation failed to honor its promises to our veterans exposed to toxins in military conflicts across the globe — until we fought like hell alongside veterans to finally get the PACT Act signed into law," said Jon Tester, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
