Americans of all stripes cheered as the United States Senate finally passed the long-awaited Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in a bipartisan 86 – 11 vote, which not only expanded health care and disability benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits but also clears the way for the potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987.
“Today, the United States Senate stepped forward to take responsibility for the countless men, women and children poisoned at Camp Lejeune,” said Pete Strom, founder of The Strom Law Firm. “It’s an important step, it’s a moral vote and it’s long overdue.”
Today’s vote sends the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, included in the PACT Act, to President Joe Biden’s desk, where, if signed, it will reopen the claim period for an additional two years so anyone impacted by the toxic water can seek medical and compensatory damages.
The PACT Act has drawn particular attention when Republican opposition blocked the bill from passage last week, sparking a national backlash and outcry.
“Potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans are suffering from everything from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver toxicity to infertility and dementia because of the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune,” said Bakari Sellers, an attorney with Strom Law Firm. “That’s not just the Marines. It’s their families, their children, school teachers, contractors, and more. They didn’t deserve this, and now we have the chance to make it right.”
Click here for more information about the Camp Lejeune water contamination and its health impacts.
