Legislation giving US veterans exposed to toxic burn pits health care and other benefits passed 86-11 in the Senate on Tuesday night, defeating Republican opposition.
There have been days of protests after Republicans last week blocked the bill.
It provides benefits for veterans who were exposed to the burn pits, in which fuel and other waste were incinerated, while on duty overseas.
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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
The pits are linked to illnesses including cancer and respiratory difficulties.
Comedian Jon Stewart led a lobbying campaign with veterans' activists who camped on Capitol Hill over the weekend. He tweeted a fingers-crossed emoji and a praying hands emoji just before the vote.
US President Joe Biden last weekend held a FaceTime meeting with veterans' families.
In a tweet he said his positive Covid-19 test prevented him from visiting them in person, so he ordered them pizza instead.
Mr Biden had called for the bill's passage during his State of the Union address this year. The bill, known as the Pact Act, would provide health care to 3.5 million veterans.
As well as veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Pact Act would also expand coverage for illnesses linked to Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War.
Forty-one Republican senators voted against the bill last week shortly after Joe Manchin, a Democratic US senator, announced a spending deal with Mr Schumer that the Republicans were against.
Twenty-five of those Republicans had supported a previous, nearly identical version of that bill last month.
“I'm used to the lies, I'm used to the hypocrisy, I'm used to the cowardice, I'm used to all of it, but I am not used to the cruelty,” Stewart said last week.
Republicans objected on a technical issue in the bill and said it would create another $400 billion in discretionary spending unrelated to veterans
The bill “is going to free up $400bn underneath the spending caps that discretionary spending is subject to", Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, told Bloomberg Television.
“It allows for a spending spree on unrelated things.”
