President Joe Biden visited the VA Clinic in Fort Worth on Tuesday to talk with veterans, caregivers, and their families about addressing the health effects of environmental exposures such as burn pits.
Burn pits were broadly used in Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of tires, batteries, medical waste, and other hazardous materials. This has been a recent focus for the Biden administration. In his State of the Union speech last week, Biden spoke about his son Beau, who died from cancer, suggesting that his illness may have been caused by toxic exposure to hazardous chemicals in burn pits while serving in the military.
“Veterans are the backbone, the spine, the sinew of who we are in this country. One percent of you serves all the rest of us,” Biden said. “We owe you. To every child with a mom or dad deployed, we owe you.” He then vowed to expand funding for burn-pit-related injuries.
Last week, the House approved a bill that boosted health care services and disability benefits for veterans affected by burn pits. If passed into law, the bill could potentially provide more than $300 million for these maladies over the next decade.
As a part of this plan, Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough announced that the VA would add nine respiratory cancers to its list of diseases that the VA will treat. Before this announcement, veterans who got these cancers were not eligible for VA care because of regulations that were in place.
Biden also addressed the situation with Trevor Reed, a Marine veteran and Fort Worth native who has been imprisoned in Russia. Reed was first detained in Russia in 2019 and was sentenced to nine years in prison for “endangering the life and health” of Russian police officers after a night of drinking.
After the White House turned down a request to meet Reed’s family, they resorted to parking outside of the VA clinic with huge signs, hoping to attract the attention of Biden.
The president said that he was unable to stop by and see the family of Trevor Reed because of his Secret Service security team but instead took a few minutes to call them over the phone. Biden could be heard over the phone saying that he “can’t imagine what they’re going through.”
Although he was apologetic about not meeting with them, he said they would schedule a meeting in the near future.
Lastly, President Biden spoke on the exponential increase in gas prices as the war continues between Russia and Ukraine. Just before landing in Fort Worth, he announced the oil ban on Russia, which cuts off all crude imports to the U.S.
“Americans have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war. This is a time when we have to do our part,” Biden stated. “Can’t do much right now; Russia is responsible.”