Jon Tester

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak of a person who took his own life. It was either on Thursday or Friday of last week. It happens far too often. This guy was an Army veteran. His name was Dave Belcher, and I had known Dave for 30 years. Dave worked at White Refrigeration as a salesman. I bought TVs from him in the early nineties. I bought the first front-loading washer from him and a refrigerator. He was just a great guy--just a great guy--but he had a challenge. His challenge was that he served his country, and because of that service to this country, he ended up with something that we talk about on this floor a lot. It is called post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. And because of that PTSD, Dave, not to my knowledge at the time when I first met him, but he was fighting demons, and he fought demons throughout his life. There were issues of depression and guilt that he just couldn't overcome and in the end, probably some paranoia involved, but he ended up taking his own life. I think to myself, back when I first met Dave 30 years ago, how this guy was as normal as anybody you would ever meet. He is not somebody you would look at and say: You know, he has got a bunch of problems. He is not somebody who you could predict, 30 years after the fact, that he would have taken his own life, but that is what happened. It happens far too often. In fact, it happens 22 times a day to our veterans in this country. This time, it happened to somebody whom I considered a friend--not somebody I saw a lot, but he is somebody who I knew had his struggles in the end. He went through veterans court. He was one of the first graduates of the veterans court and was somebody who did his best to try to get his life turned around, but it didn't happen. The demons got him. I just wanted to come to the floor today to say: Dave, you and all your friends who have served this country have people in the Senate, people in Congress who fight for you every day. For those folks who are watching this, who can relate to what I am saying, if you have an issue, please get ahold of somebody who can help you, like a mental healthcare professional out there, because mental health can be fixed. All you need to do is get the tools to be able to deal with it. I yield the floor.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I would like to share a few words today to honor an outstanding leader and friend of mine who recently passed away. Eric Feaver was a force in Montana and a lifelong advocate for educators across our State. He was the former president of Montana's teacher's union who devoted more than 40 years to improving the State's public school system. His commitment to Montana's working families was tangible and had a profound impact on public policy. It is safe to say the Treasure State wouldn't be what it is today without him. As a fierce advocate for the labor movement, Eric was an inspiration to fellow labor leaders, politicians, teachers, students, and community members alike. It takes a lot these days to reach across party lines, but Eric consistently worked with those who held different views. Just ask some of the folks who worked with Eric. They will tell you, even though they didn't always agree with him, they respected him. Raised in Oklahoma and sent to Vietnam as a conscientious objector and U.S. Army combat medic at the age of 23, Eric first planted roots in Montana when he landed a teaching job at Helena Junior High School in 1974. It didn't take long for Eric to find his way into the State's labor movement, where he would spend nearly 50 years helping shape education and union policy. As a result of Eric's charisma and expertise, he was elected president of the Montana Education Association in 1984, and in 2000, he led MEA to a monumental merger with the Montana Federation of Teachers. As president of MEA-MFT, Eric spearheaded another major merger, which resulted in the creation of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, an organization that today represents more than 25,000 public sector employees. Over the years, Eric continued to bring together folks across Montana. And he managed to do a lot of good for the State's workforce and public schools in the process. But even more than his accomplishments, I think Eric will be remembered for his passion--his genuine commitment to making the Treasure State a better, fairer place to live and work. I am lucky to have called Eric a friend. His legacy and his friendship have left a lasting imprint on me and so many others. I extend my deepest condolences to Eric's wife, Ellen; their two daughters, Amity and Ashley; two sons-in-law, Rich and TJ; grandchildren, Tristin, Cameron, Braden, Halo, Ethan, and Oliver; and his brothers, Douglas and Edward. While Eric is no longer with us, he will go down in Montana history as one of the State's greatest labor leaders and champions of public education. He will be sorely missed.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 5134 to the title be considered and agreed to.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, 1 week ago, this body passed Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act. We passed that bill with 84 votes in favor of it, something that rarely happens around here. This bill was supported by the President; it was supported by the VA Secretary; and it was the No. 1 priority for nearly every major veterans advocacy group in the Nation. In fact, I cannot think of one that this wasn't the No. 1 priority for. Upon passage, it was transmitted to the House, and they indicated that they would move it within days to the President's desk. Unfortunately, after Senate passage, the bill ran into a procedural hurdle, as bills often do around here, but tonight we have a chance to get back on track. We have a chance to get it to the House without further delay. And I might add, what this bill does is it takes care of a decades-long issue with toxic exposure. The ranking member, Senator Moran, and I talked about this bill a week or two ago at length. This bill will help save veterans' lives who have been exposed to toxins and will help support their families after they passed. I would hope my colleagues will keep that in mind as they decide whether this is an appropriate time to play political games, to delay this bill's ability to become law, and obstruct for the sake of obstruction. Everyone in this body knows that our veterans deserve more than that. They have waited long enough for the care and the benefits that are provided by this bill, and they shouldn't have to wait any longer because it did receive 84 votes in this body a week or so ago. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to request the House of Representatives to return the papers on H.R. 3967; I further ask that notwithstanding the lack of receipt of the papers, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the Tester resolution that is at the desk to remove the blue-slip provision in the PACT Act; that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table without intervening action or debate.

Mr. TESTER. Reserving the right to object. I don't know where to start. First of all, this amendment does nothing to fix the blue-slip issue that was the real problem here. That was a de minimis amount of money anyway. Nonetheless, it is a blue-slip issue, and we have to fix it. I would wholeheartedly disagree with my friend, the Senator from Pennsylvania, in saying that what you are actually doing is stopping benefits from veterans with this amendment. We are a body here in the U.S. Senate. If you want to talk about the appropriations process, we can talk about the appropriations process. But in the process of those debates, you shouldn't be denying healthcare to veterans, which is exactly what the good Senator from Pennsylvania is doing today. For that reason, I object.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I would like to share a few words today to honor an outstanding leader, veteran, and friend of mine who recently passed away. Tony Incashola was the director of the Selis-Qlispe Culture Committee, where he spent 47 years preserving and perpetuating Salish and Pend d'Oreille culture, language, and history. In his 27 years as director of the committee, he earned the respect and trust of those he represented, so much so that members of the Selis-Qlispe Elders Cultural Advisory Council regarded him as the leader of the Tribe. Apart from his work on the Selis-Qlispe Culture Committee, Tony was a former Tribal councilman for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. In partnership with his fellow CSKT elder Johnny Arlee, Tony initiated the documentation and preservation of Salish language, stories, lessons, important place names, and songs, among other historical artifacts. Thanks to their work, the Selis-Qlispe Culture Committee has produced one of the most comprehensive and extensive tribal collections of oral history and culture in the Nation. Tony's life's work was dedicated to passing Tribal knowledge onto future generations, which he accomplished not only through his record- keeping, but also through projects like the Nkwusm Salish School in Arlee, which teaches the Salish language and culture to kids from pre-K through 8th grade. Tony's knowledge and leadership also had a profound impact on Tribal policy. As a member of the CSKT Tribal Council, he was instrumental in the effort to expand the Tribe's natural resource department and ultimately acquire ownership over the Salish Kootenai Dam. And as if his dedication to the Tribes wasn't enough, Tony was also a Vietnam vet, who served his country courageously in the U.S. Army. But to me, and to many others, Tony was all these things and more. He was a spiritual leader, a historian, a resource, and a friend. I got to know him during my time in the Montana State Legislature, and he quickly became someone I deeply respected for his character, his wisdom, and his deep knowledge of the past. But most of all, Tony was just a stand-up guy, a man who dedicated his life to others, whether that was his family, his Tribe, or even future generations of Tribal members he would never meet. I extend my deepest sympathies to Tony's wife Denise; their children Daren, Brian, Brandy, and Tony, Jr.; foster children Destry Henderson and Marietta Meuli; ``special daughter'' Marlene Lafromboise; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and all the other folks who considered Tony family--and there were many. Though he is no longer with us, Tony's presence will be felt for generations. Tony's memory will live on, just like the CSKT history he spent his life working to preserve. Thank you, Tony, for all you gave to Montana. You will be sorely missed.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Moran for his comments. I didn't hear everything he had to say, but when I came in, one of the things he said was we may not be the most important people in this process. And he is 100 percent correct. We are simply the conduit that was utilized to get this bill put into law. There are way, way too many people to thank on this legislation, and I am going to get to that. And I will forget a bunch of folks, and I apologize right now. But the truth is, we today, the U.S. Senate today, has the opportunity to make history by passing the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics--PACT-- Act. This is not a new issue. Generations after generations of Americans have gone to war backed by a promise that we made to them when they signed up that we would care for them when they got home. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in the case of toxic exposure. We failed them. This bill is about righting a wrong that has been ignored for just way too damn long. It is about Will Thompson. It is about SFC Heath Robinson. It is about every American who has lost their lives through toxic exposures because of the duty that they have performed for this country. Sadly, it is too late to do right by Will and Heath and so many others, but today, this body has a chance to do the right thing by their families and future generations of our All-Volunteer military by passing the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act. The days of ignoring the wounds from toxic exposure, wounds not seen until years after those days are gone--conditions like hypertension and MGUS found in veterans like Robert Hunter, a proud Montanan who served in the Army as an engineering officer during the Vietnam war. Robert was exposed to Agent Orange during his service and contracted MGUS years later. He is one of the 66,000 veterans in Montana who would become eligible for relief under this bill--not to mention every post- 9/11 veteran in this country who would automatically receive VA healthcare. This includes more than 3.5 million post-9/11 combat veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. This bill would also remove the burden of proof for 23 presumptive conditions caused by military toxic exposures, from cancers to lung disease, and it would codify a more transparent framework to establish future presumptions of service connections to ensure future generations of veterans are treated more fairly than the last. And probably, most importantly, it will allow the VA to make the decisions on toxic exposures instead of an act of Congress. In short, the PACT Act will allow hundreds of thousands of veterans across the country to access the VA care that they have been denied and give them the benefits that they have earned. Make no mistake, the VA will be given the tools it needs to hire more medical professionals and claims processors, establish more healthcare facilities and improve claims processing, ensuring we are meeting the needs of our veterans today, tomorrow, and in the future. The bottom line is this country is very capable of recognizing the physical, obvious wounds of war--a lost limb, a chemical burn--and we are taking the steps to recognize the mental wounds of war, but we haven't been recognizing the toxic wounds of war, and that will end today with the passage of this bill. As chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee--and I have said this many times to the veterans service organizations--I take my cues from them, the veterans they represent. When I first introduced the COST of War Act last year, together we set out with a clear goal, a goal to right the wrongs of decades of inactions and failure--by us, by our government--to provide all areas of toxic-exposed veterans the VA care and benefits they need and that they have earned. We knew this was the only way to do this--was to put forth a package that took care of our past, present, and future veterans. I am grateful--and I mean this because folks always talk about good friends on the Senate floor. Sometimes, they mean it; sometimes, they don't. I mean it. Thank you to my good friend Ranking Member Jerry Moran for working with me, with the committee, for creating an environment so our staffs could work together to create this new, bipartisan toxic exposure strategy. And for my colleagues on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, particularly my friends like Senator John Boozman and Senator Sherrod Brown, thank you. I am thankful for the leadership of President Biden and VA Secretary Denis McDonough, along with House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Takano, and so many, many others who are here today. This bill is the legislation we envisioned when we set out to right the wrongs of our toxic-exposed vets. This bill recognizes the cost of war. It is the bill our veterans and our families deserve and are counting on and cannot wait any longer for. Veterans and veterans service organizations and advocates have understood this for a long time. And they have been incredible partners since the beginning, and I look forward to thanking each and every one of them in the days and the weeks to come. I want to speak directly to them now: I am grateful for your efforts. I am grateful for your voices--for never taking your foot off the gas-- and continuing to push Members of Congress to simply do the right thing. I also want to acknowledge the countless hours put in by the staffs from both sides of the aisle--and Senator Moran is exactly correct, we take credit for their good work; and they do good work--staff from my office, like staff director Tony McClain, as well as this guy right here to my left, Simon Coon, Dahlia Melendrez, James Cho, Janko Mitric, Tess Wrzesinski, Shauna Rust, Olya Voytovich, and Liz Timmons but also folks across the aisle, like Lindsay Dearing, Jon Towers, Asher Allman, Tom Brandt, Pat McGuigan, Michelle Dominguez, Dili Sundaramoorthy, and Mike Jones. Look, by sitting down in a bipartisan way to get this bill crafted, we were able to have success and get the job done, and that is what the folks who sent us here expect us to do. America's veterans and their loved ones will be better off as a result of this work today, and the result of that will make this country a better place. There is always a cost of war, and that cost is never fully repaid when the war ends. So I have got one question: Are we willing to show these millions of veterans that we have their back, that the U.S. Government has their back? Are we willing to admit that we didn't live up to the promise of veterans like Will Thompson and Heath Robinson? But the fact is, I believe today will show that we can put party politics aside and honor America's bravest. We can honor the plea of Heath's 8-year-old daughter Brielle to ``Fight for the heroes who fought for our country and pass my dad's bill, the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson PACT Act.'' And we can begin settling our debts to millions of other veterans and their families today. The last thing is, what I am going to close with, that the work is not over with, assuming this bill passes today. The ranking member is 100 percent correct: We are going to have a lot of oversight to do to make sure that the veterans get the healthcare and the benefits that they have earned and that they deserve. That is the congressional intent that we have with this bill. So oversight will be critically important. I yield the floor.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I want to start my remarks by expressing my appreciation for Ranking Member Moran's leadership. It has been stellar. If you combine him with Senator Boozman and Senator Heinrich, it has been a great team. I just want to thank Senator Moran for his leadership and his continued desire to do the right thing for the servicemembers who have served this country in the military. The Senate has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity today to make history in passing the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. Let me be clear. This bill isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. It is not about political posturing. It is about Americans standing up for those who have served and sacrificed on behalf of this country and the freedoms that we have today. In fact, it is even more than that. It is about righting a wrong that has been ignored for too damn long. It is about Will Thompson, who served our country for 23 years in the Army on Active Duty as a West Virginia National Guardsman. After his second tour in Iraq in 2009, Will developed pulmonary fibrosis from the effect of his exposures to burn pits, and he endured two double-lung transplants. He testified in front of our committee, less than a year ago. He lost his battle with his illnesses this last December. It is about SFC Heath Robinson, who answered the call of duty and was deployed to Kosovo and Iraq with the Ohio National Guard--a picture of Heath right here and his daughter. While deployed, he was exposed to potent toxins, and 13 years after his deployment--13 short years after his deployment--he lost his life to a rare autoimmune disease and stage IV lung cancer, conditions absolutely and unequivocally caused by burn pits. Sadly, it is too late to do right by Will and Heath and so many others for them personally, but today this body has a chance to do the right thing by their families and future generations of our All- Volunteer military by advancing the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act. I want to talk a little bit about this plaque right here, see the picture of Heath in uniform? But you also see what is the most important thing to Heath, and that is his daughter. His daughter was at a press conference that the ranking member and I were at a little over a week ago. And I said this when I first spoke on this bill a little over a week ago, the first words out of her mouth were: ``I love my daddy. Daddy's not around anymore.'' But because of, hopefully, the work that we are going to do here today, she will have a future. This is not only about our service men and women--the people who served in our military--it is about their families because when folks go to war, it is just not the service person who does it; it is everybody in their family. And what this bill will do, is it will address decades of inaction and failure by our government, expanding eligibility for VA healthcare to more than 3.5 million combat veterans exposed to burn pits. It supports our post-9/11 and Vietnam-era veterans by removing the burden of proof for 23 presumptive conditions caused by toxins. These conditions include cancers to lung disease, and it establishes a framework for the establishment of future presumptions and service connections related to toxic exposure, giving the VA the tools it needs to bolster its workforce, establish more healthcare facilities, and improve claims processing. There is always a cost to war, and that cost is never fully paid when the war ends. Our country didn't live up to its promise to veterans like Will Thompson and Heath Robinson, but if we do what Senator Moran and I have done, and that is put politics aside, if we put our American men and women's bravest first, if we can begin settling our debts to millions of other veterans and their families by getting this bill across the finish line, we will have done something great. And I would urge my colleagues to support this final procedural vote and a vote that is critical to moving this bill forward. Amendments Withdrawn Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remaining pending amendments be withdrawn, with the exception of the substitute amendment No. 5051.

Mr. TESTER. I yield the floor. Vote on Amendment No. 5051

Mr. TESTER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Reserving the right to object, we are here on the cusp of doing something that really tells the fighting men and women who serve in our military all around the world that we have got your back. We are here because of what I would say is a great working relationship between the ranking member, Senator Moran, and myself. As I said in the VA Committee earlier, that relationship is going to continue regardless, and the reason is because, in this place, there is something that is missing, and it is called trust. And I trust Senator Moran. We have been through this for the last year and a half and even longer. When you were chairman of the committee, many of the bills that are in this package, you oversaw their passage out of committee. But because negotiations continue and because I still believe, even though this process is very broken--we both know that--I still believe that we are going to be able to come to something that both of us can agree on with amendments through our leadership--by the way, we would agree on something anyway--but through our leadership. That is why I am objecting to your motion. I object.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, may I ask the ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee a question?

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, are you asking me to throw my weight around?

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, the Senate has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation this week. The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act will honor this country's commitment to our country's toxin-exposed veterans and their families. Generation after generation of veterans have been exposed to toxic substances during their time serving this country. And when they return from their military service, they have faced yet another battle right here at home--that battle to get the care and benefits that they have earned and that they desperately need. In the worst cases, folks are praying and praying with the price of their lives--veterans and heroes like SFC Heath Robinson, for whom this bill is named. Like many Americans, Heath answered the call of duty and deployed to Kosovo and Iraq with the Ohio National Guard. When he deployed, he was a healthy and active soldier. While deployed, he was exposed to toxins from burn pits. And 13 years--13 short years--after his deployment, he lost his life to a rare autoimmune disease and stage 4 lung cancer, conditions undoubtedly related to his exposure to toxins from burn pits while he was on active duty serving this Nation. Heath left behind an 8-year-old daughter. He also left behind a wife and family. And this family is now committed to ensuring that this country provides for other veterans what it could not provide for Heath--the support he needed to survive. This bill will address decades of inaction and failure by our Government. It expands eligibility for VA healthcare to more than 3\1/ 2\ million combat veterans exposed to burn pits, supporting our post-9/ 11 and Vietnam-era veterans by removing the burden of proof for 23 presumptive conditions caused by toxic exposure, from cancers to lung disease. It establishes a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service-related toxic exposures, giving the VA the tools it needs to bolster its workforce, establish more healthcare facilities, and improve the claims process to better meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran that the VA serves. There is always a cost to war. And we often look at it with ships and airplanes and tanks, but the fact is, the cost of the wars we have fought are never fully paid. This bill will help right that wrong. Congress has a chance to show our Nation's veterans that their government has their back. Our men and women in uniform answered the call of duty. The Presiding Officer of the Senate knows exactly what I am talking about. They upheld their end of the bargain; we need to uphold ours. Madam President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. TESTER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. TESTER. I ask unanimous consent that we yield back all time and the vote occur right now.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 5051.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I ask to dispense with any further reading of the amendment.

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, the Senate is on the verge of honoring our commitment to our country's toxic-exposed veterans and their families through the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our PACT Act. Look, generation after generation of veterans have been exposed to toxic substances during their time in service, dating all the way back to World War I and every conflict since then. And they have returned only to face yet another battle here at home when they seek care and benefits because of the impact of toxic exposure on their lives. In the worst care scenarios, folks are paying the price with their lives--veterans and heroes like Sergeant First Class Robinson, for whom this bill is named after. Look, we have made some incredible advances as a country over our history when it comes to taking care of our servicemembers both in- theater and after they get back home. The survival on the battlefield now compared to 50 years ago has been improved amazingly. Prosthetics--we have done some amazing work with prosthetics for the folks who have come back who are missing limbs. We have been working hard on mental health. We are not where we need to be, but we are making some advances. We have got more stuff to do, particularly in the area of transition and implementation of alternate forms of mental healthcare. But the fact is, with toxic exposure, we have never done a good job. This bill will put the VA and put this Nation on the right track to addressing decades of inaction and failure by our government--by us--to pay for the cost of the war. So what does it do? It expands eligibility--expands eligibility--for VA healthcare to more than 3\1/2\ million combat veterans exposed to burn pits since 9/11. It supports our post-9/11 and Vietnam-era veterans by removing the burden of proof for 23 presumptive conditions caused by toxic exposure, from cancers to lung diseases. It establishes a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure. So why is this important? Well, you know how the Senate works. Oftentimes, it takes a long time to get much done, and it has taken an act of Congress--literally, an act of Congress--to get these presumptives approved in the past. Now the VA is going to have a structure where they can follow the science and get these toxic exposures covered, the ones that are going to happen in the future--and, unfortunately, I am afraid that they will happen in the future so this structure is important. This bill also gives the VA the tools it needs to bolster its workforce, to establish more healthcare facilities, to improve claims processing, which will better meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran that the VA serves. I have talked about the costs. The costs are $287 billion over 10-- significant, very significant, but it is a cost of war. Keep in mind that this substitute--because of the work that the staffs have done in a bipartisan way--is $50 billion less than the House-passed toxic exposure bill. So we have done our best to make sure that this bill meets the needs of our veterans and also meets the needs of our taxpayers. This is the right thing to do, and it is the right thing to get done today because right now our veterans are paying the cost. They are the only ones paying the cost, and they cannot afford to wait any longer. I yield the floor.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. TESTER

Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.