|
 Accompanied by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, Biden
will visit a clinic for veterans in Fort Worth and receive a
briefing from staff on services for veterans and challenges they
face, the White House said.
He will deliver remarks on the administration's efforts to address
the problem, including a proposed rule to consider adding certain
rare cancers to the list of those presumed to be connected to
military service. He also will urge Congress to help veterans facing
those difficulties.
One such veteran "was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic
smoke from 'burn pits' that incinerated wastes of war —medical and
hazard material, jet fuel, and more," Biden said in his State of the
Union address earlier this month, referencing his late son Major
Beau Biden.
Beau Biden, a former Delaware attorney general, died of brain cancer
in 2015 at age 46.
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 "We don't know for sure if a burn pit was the
cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so
many of our troops. But I'm committed to finding
out everything we can," the president said.
It is not the only effort inspired by Beau's
illness. In February, Biden announced plans to
reduce the death rate from cancer by at least
50% over the next 25 years, part of an effort to
revive the "Cancer Moonshot" initiative to speed
research and make more treatments available.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by
Kenneth Maxwell)
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