US Senate passes bill to help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits

Comedian Jon Stewart campaigned for bill's passing that will go to US House next for a vote

Jon Stewart speaks during a press conference about the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 in Washington. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart has long advocated for causes he believes in. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart hugs 9/11 advocate John Feal. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart has been championing causes for veterans for many years. Getty Images / AFP

Senator John Tester and Stewart embrace. Getty Images / AFP

Air Force veteran Tim Hauser speaks during Thursday's press conference. Getty Images / AFP

An Afghan National Army pickup truck passes a fire in a trash burn pit south of Kabul, Afghanistan. AP

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand addresses a news conference about military burn pits legislation outside the US Capitol in March. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart poses for a photograph with Lauren Grigsby, Charlotte Brock and Melinda Beyer whose friend, Marine Corps veteran Kate Hendricks, died after being exposed to burn pits. AFP

Danielle Robinson, widow of Ohio Army National Guard veteran Health Robinson, who died in 2020 due to lung cancer caused by burn pits, addresses the crowds. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart talks with Ms Robinson outside the US Capitol in March. Getty Images / AFP

Brielle Robinson, daughter of the late Army Sgt First Class Heath Robinson outside the US Capitol in March. Getty Images / AFP

Mr Schumer greets Brielle Robinson. Getty Images / AFP

Congressman Raul Ruiz joins veterans, advocacy groups, activists, victims' families and fellow Democrats for a news conference about military burn pits legislation. Getty Images / AFP

Stewart, a long-time New Yorker, also advocated for 9/11 victims. Getty Images / AFP

Trash at a burn pit in Forward Operating Base Zeebrudge, Helmand province, Afghanistan. US Marines / AFP

Burn pits are commonly used by the US military to get rid of everything from plastic bottles to human waste to old tyres – all incinerated with the aid of jet fuel. US Marines / AFP

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at a news conference at the US Capitol in March. Getty Images / AFP

A major bill expanding health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic military burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan passed the US Senate, as senators praised their bipartisan work on one of the few issues on which they can find common ground.

The bill eases and expands access to health services and disability benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxic smoke from the US military's use of burn pits on foreign bases until the mid-2010s.

Brielle Robinson, whose father died from a burn pit related illness, holds a doll with her father's photograph during a news conference. Reuters

If enacted into law, the bill would cost an estimated $180 billion over the first four years. It would benefit nearly 3.5 million veterans who developed cancer and other illnesses after being exposed to fumes from pits that sometimes were as large as a football field. The pits were used to burn waste including plastic tyres, batteries, explosives, human faeces and chemicals.

"For too long, our nation’s veterans have faced an absurd indignity: They enlisted to serve our country, went abroad in good health, and came back home only to get sick from toxic exposure endured while in the line of duty," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a Senate speech.

He noted that around 80 per cent of disability claims related to burn pits have been rejected by the Veterans Administration. The issue is personal for President Joe Biden, who believes his late son Beau's fatal brain cancer could have been caused by such a pit from when he served in Iraq.

Servicemembers returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq suffered from fatal respiratory illnesses and rare cancers caused by exposure to the open-air pits, but were frequently denied coverage or put through protracted self-funded legal battles in order to prove their eligibility.

Comedian Jon Stewart has campaigned for the bill to be passed, with social media postings and appearances at the US Capitol in Washington.

"The cost of war is not fully paid when the war is over. We are now on the verge of honouring that commitment to American veterans and their families," Republican Senator Jerry Moran said ahead of the vote on Thursday.

"This is a day of our democracy actually working," Democratic Senator Kyrsten Gillibrand, who championed the bill in the Senate, said at a press conference after the vote.

The bill will also expand coverage for servicemembers exposed to Agent Orange, an herbicide used by the US military during the Vietnam War.

The measure will now go to the House of Representatives for a vote before being sent to Mr Biden's desk for signature into law.

Reuters contributed to this report.