Brown Introduces Bill to Protect and Fully Fund Earned Benefits and Care for Veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Boozman (R-AR), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced new legislation to protect veterans' earned benefits and ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is able to continue to pay disability compensation, pension, and education benefits to veterans. This year, VA has served more veterans than ever before and provided more care and benefits to veterans that were exposed to toxins during their time in the military because of Brown's bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022.Brown's legislation, whichwas signed into law in 2022, provided a record expansion of care and benefits for veterans. As a result, more veterans are filing claims and receiving their long overdue earned benefits, including disability compensation and GI Bill benefits.

Without additional funding to mirror the increased number of claims received, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is at risk of leaving 7 million veterans and survivors without access to the benefits they have earned. Delaying this funding could postpone benefit payments from reaching veterans, caregivers, and survivors, requiring tough spending choices at the beginning of October, to avoid overdraft fees, or the potential of services being shut off.

"We fought to make the PACT Act law to expand the care and benefits millions of veterans earned when they served our country, and because of it more veterans than ever are getting the care they deserve. We must ensure VA can continue to implement the PACT Act - we can't deny the brave veterans who sacrificed to protect our country the benefits they earned, because VA doesn't have the resources," said Brown.

The PACT Act is the result of a years-long fight by Brown, veterans and advocates to secure access to Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare and benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins. The legislation is named after Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a Central Ohio veteran who passed away in 2020 at age 39 from lung cancer after exposure to burn pits during a one-year deployment in Iraq in 2006.

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