Today, Cheri Beasley, Candidate for U.S. Senate, wrote an op-ed in the Fayetteville Observer, highlighting the need to pass the Honoring Our PACT Act, which would expand access to health care and benefits to roughly 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits and give Camp Lejeune families the right to seek monetary relief due to harms from water contamination. In the op-ed, Beasley discussed the need for Washington to live up to its obligation to our veterans and servicemembers by ensuring that they have the critical resources, health care, and support they need, saying “our veterans, servicemembers, and military families put everything on the line in service to our country and each of us — and it’s our duty to serve them too. We must honor our obligations to them, and passing the Honoring Our Pact Act is an important step.”Approximately 70% of veterans’ burn pit claims have been denied since 9/11, and legal barriers have prevented many exposed to contaminated water from seeking justice. 

The bipartisan legislation will soon be up for a vote in the Senate. Unfortunately, Beasley’s opponent, Congressman Ted Budd, voted against the bipartisan bill in the U.S. House earlier this year, after also opposing increasing pay for servicemembers and opposing making it easier for veterans to get the care they need.Read the full article below.Fayetteville Observer: Beasley: Law would honor our commitment to veterans at Bragg, Lejeune and across NC

By Cheri Beasley

More than 800,000 active-duty servicemembers and veterans call North Carolina home. When my husband Curt and I raised our family in Fayetteville, close to Fort Bragg, I saw firsthand the courage and commitment of our servicemembers and their families.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen how Washington has failed to live up to its obligation to our veterans and servicemembers – including veterans exposed to dangerous toxins during their military service. Exposures to burn pits in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Agent Orange in Southeast Asia, and contaminated water at our own Camp Lejeune have long been connected to devastating health outcomes for our service members.

The contaminated water consumed at Camp Lejeune has caused serious illnesses such as certain cancers, adverse birth outcomes, and even death. Burn pits have been linked to cancers, respiratory diseases, and other ailments. And for far too long, this has gone largely unaddressed by Congress – leaving many veterans without access to essential health services.

Approximately 70% of veterans’ burn pit claims have been denied since 9/11, and legal barriers have prevented many exposed to contaminated water from seeking justice. Now, the Senate has the opportunity to bring them that justice by passing the bipartisan “Honoring Our PACT Act.”

This critical legislation will soon be up for a vote in the U.S. Senate and would expand access to health care and benefits to roughly 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits, give Camp Lejeune families the right to seek monetary relief due to harms from water contamination, and other essential reforms to serve our veterans.

This is the kind of commonsense, bipartisan legislation that our veterans, servicemembers, and their families need and should expect from their leaders, and I would be proud to support it in the U.S. Senate. But my opponent, Congressman Ted Budd, voted against the bill in the U.S. House earlier this year.

After opposing increasing pay for servicemembers and opposing making it easier for veterans to get the care they need, Congressman Budd once again turned his back on our veterans and our servicemembers.

North Carolina has a proud military tradition, and we need a leader who will stand up for and protect our servicemembers and their families, and be a voice for them in the Senate.

Truly standing up for our veterans means ensuring that they have the critical resources, health care, and support they need – and an important way to do this is by passing this commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will make a big difference for many North Carolinians and Americans.

Our veterans, servicemembers, and military families put everything on the line in service to our country and each of us — and it’s our duty to serve them too. We must honor our obligations to them, and passing the Honoring Our Pact Act is an important step.Cheri Beasley is a former Cumberland County district court judge and Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court. She is a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Original source can be found here.