[CPEO-MEF] VETERANS: Republicans zero out VA's Toxic Exposures Fund

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Burn pit fund for veterans on chopping block in GOP spending bill 

BY ELLEN MITCHELL
The Hill
March 14, 2025

Democratic lawmakers and veterans’ groups are fuming over a provision in a stopgap federal spending bill passed by House Republicans this week that would cut a Department of Veteran Affairs fund meant to cover costs for illnesses linked to military burn pits and other chemical exposure.

The six-month government spending package, which largely holds federal spending at fiscal year 2024 levels, would cut the Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF) for the VA next year. 

The controversial fund was meant to allot $22.8 billion to cover expanded benefits for former service members sickened by military toxic exposures — including burn pit smoke and Agent Orange water contamination — starting October 1, 2025.

But the continuing resolution (CR) drafted and passed by House Republicans zeros out funding that would have been used for the TEF in the fall.

...

For the entire article, see
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5194764-democrats-republicans-veterans-funding/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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