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The
legislation, which would cost $180 billion over four years,
would cover injuries suffered by service members exposed to
toxic smoke from the burn pits, which has been linked to
respiratory illnesses and rare cancers.
It would also expand federal research on the impact of the burn
pits, which were used by the U.S. military until the mid-2010s
to dispose of plastics, chemicals, human waste and other garbage
on foreign bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
The legislation passed the House last year but the Senate
modified it to phase in coverage more gradually. It will have to
pass the House again before Biden can sign it into law.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor
ahead of the vote that 3.5 million servicemembers had been
exposed to the toxic burn pits since Sept. 11, 2001, and called
the years of denials of coverage "a confounding indignity" to
veterans.
The bill will also expand coverage of health issues caused by
Agent Orange, a toxic deforestation spray used by the U.S.
military during the Vietnam War.
President Joe Biden highlighted the legislation in his State of
the Union speech in March. His son, Beau, died of a rare brain
cancer in 2015 after serving for a year in Iraq in 2009.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; Editing by Mark
Porter)
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