To help military veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other potentially deadly poisons while serving overseas, the US Senate voted 86-11 on Tuesday.
There are an estimated 3.5 million ex-soldiers in the United States who served in Iraq or Afghanistan where sewage and medical waste were burned in open pits and people living nearby were exposed to pollutants that have been linked to respiratory problems and cancer. Soldiers exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam will also benefit from this legislation.
Because of existing law, some veterans’ claims for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs have been denied because they couldn’t properly link their ailments to deployments, according to veterans’ groups. The burden of proof has been eliminated for all those who have been exposed to burn pits and have developed illnesses that may be linked to their exposure.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, expressed gratitude to those who had worked hard to get the legislation passed.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, thanked the veterans who had to endure “scorching heat and pouring rain” over the past three days to get to this point.
PASSAGE FOLLOWS BACKLASH FROM PORK
The Senate approved an earlier version of this bill by a vote of 84-14 in June. However, Republicans blocked a second vote to approve the version that was approved by the House on a 342-88 vote after Democrats reached an agreement on a reconciliation package that will deliver a large injection of funds into programs to mitigate climate change and decrease healthcare costs.
Democrats are accused of trying to “sneak in” $400 billion in new obligatory spending by Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania. However, he claims that the version enacted in June contained the same language. Dems responded by claiming they were protecting veterans’ benefits from being reduced in the near future by making the case that required expenditure was necessary to do so.
Finally, 41 Republicans, including 25 who had approved it in June, voted against the bill the second time around.
So, comedian Jon Stewart started an outcry, calling the vote against this bill, which the majority of Republicans had previously backed, “corruption at its finest”. VFW, the largest veterans group, also accused the 25 Republicans of “risking more veterans getting sick and dying every day” that they delayed the legislation.
After Joe Biden signs the measure, it will become law.
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They say if it happens in the 25th hour it's better late than never. But, this Republican party are the "Tommy Kill Days" of the 21st Century. I mean, we have to go through the games, all the pointing of the fingers, all the whataboutisms before they put their BIG BOY BOOTS on and pass a bill. A bill that benefits and fits like a hand and glove to the ones who protected the inhabitants of this country against foreign enemies. That's what they prevented. Thats what they slowed the speed limit of life up for. Yeah "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country". I never liked that statement. That's exactly what it feels like the Republicans were doing to the military. THAT'S PORK but with this passage of the law IT'S A "FOOD YEARS UP MOMENT! for all the soldiers in need.
Former Independent Counsel Ken Starr, who was instrumental in the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, has passed away.
Starr passed away on Tuesday at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, Texas… owing to postoperative problems… that’s what his relatives say.
Starr led the massive Whitewater investigation of the Clintons in the 1990s and is famous for this. The investigation started with the Clintons’ real estate dealings and widened to encompass the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.
Starr’s career as an attorney was highly successful… It was Reagan who put him forward for a position on the Supreme Court of the United States. District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Later becoming U.S. Secretary of State under former President George H.W. Bush. State Department’s top lawyer.
Starr was a United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia and argued 36 cases before the Supreme Court. He worked as an associate attorney general under William French Smith and as a law clerk for Warren E. Burger.
Active in the field of higher learning, during his 25 years of teaching, he has held positions at New York University, George Mason University, Pepperdine University, Chapman University, and Baylor University. In addition to his role as President and Chancellor of Baylor, Starr formerly served as Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Starr attended Sam Houston High School and Trinity University to receive his Bachelor of Arts after he was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He earned an M.P.S. in political science from Brown and a J.D. from Duke.
Ken’s children, Randall, Carolyn, and Cynthia, and his wife of 52 years, Alice Mendell Starr, survive him.
In a statement released in Starr’s son’s honor, the family expressed their “deep sadness at the loss of our dear and loving Father and Grandfather, whom we admired for his prodigious work ethic, but who always put his family first. The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him.”
The visitation will be held on September 23 in Waco, and the burial will take place in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
A 76-year-old Starr in some circles of politics passed away.
CHERYENNE, Wyoming. Following a crushing defeat in the Wyoming Republican primary to an opponent sponsored by former President Donald Trump, Representative Liz Cheney became increasingly outspoken on Wednesday about considering a 2024 presidential candidacy.
The three-term congressman stated on NBC that Trump poses ““a very grave threat and risk to our republic,” adding that she plans to join “a broad and united front of Republicans, Democrats, and independents” to stop him.
She wouldn’t confirm or deny whether or not she was considering a presidential run, but she did admit, “it’s something that I’m thinking about.”
The primary results, especially her loss by more than 35 points, highlighted the swift rightward movement within the Republican Party. Trump’s populist appeal and, more than anything else, his rejection of loss in 2020 have transformed the Republican Party, which was once dominated by national security-focused, business-friendly conservatives like her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The claims have been rejected by federal and state election officials as well as Trump’s own attorney general and judges he selected, turning Cheney from an occasional critic of the former president into the strongest voice within the GOP warning that he constitutes a threat to democratic principles. She alluded to her political future by mentioning that she is the ranking Republican on the House panel looking into the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
“I have said since Jan. 6 that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office — and I mean it,” she said during her concession speech on Tuesday.
Cheney addressed a small group of supporters, including her father, on the edge of a large field framed by mountains and bales of hay on Wednesday morning, and she described her primary loss from Tuesday night as the beginning of a new chapter in her political career.
“Our work is far from over,” she said, evoking Abraham Lincoln, who also lost congressional elections before ascending to the presidency and preserving the union.
Celebratory Hageman supporters, many of whom were dressed in cowboy boots, hats, and blue jeans, congregated for a massive outdoor rodeo and Western cultural celebration in Cheyenne, some 400 miles (645 kilometers) to the east of Cheney’s concession address.
Hageman, an attorney for the ranching business who came in third in a previous run for governor, expressed his gratitude to President Trump for recognizing the importance of Wyoming’s lone congressional representative.
She courted Trump’s supporters by echoing his conspiracy theories and saying the 2020 election was “rigged,” which is demonstrably wrong.
As Trump’s largest political triumph of the primary season, Cheney’s defeat was cause for celebration among Trump and his staff. The former president has described the findings as “a complete condemnation” of the January 6 committee.
He said of Cheney, “Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others,” he wrote on his social media platform. “Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!”
Meanwhile, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, another major Republican critic of Trump, advanced from her primary in Alaska, which also took place on Tuesday. In the contest for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, Sarah Palin, the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential contender and a fervent admirer of Trump, was also headed for the general election in November.
The focus, though, was on Cheney, whose defeat just two years ago seemed impossible. She comes from a prestigious political family in Wyoming, as her father was the state’s vice president. Moreover, she was the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, making her a powerful figure in party politics and policy and ensuring that she had a solidly conservative voting record.
Now that Cheney has reached the end of her third and final term in Congress, she will be compelled to leave office in January. No one will be expecting her to exit Capitol Hill quietly.
She will remain in charge of the congressional group until its dissolution at the end of the year, when the probe into the attack on January 6 will have concluded. She has sworn to do all in her power to combat Trump’s influence in her party, and she is seriously considering a run for the White House in 2024, either as a Republican or as an independent.
On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he personally approved the search warrant that was used to raid Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Garland also disclosed that the Department of Justice has submitted a motion to unseal an FBI property receipt and a search warrant.
“Federal law, long-standing department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time. There are, however, certain points I want you to know,” Garland said.
“First, I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter. Second, the department does not take such decisions lightly.”
Given Trump’s “public confirmation of the search,” the circumstances surrounding the search, and the considerable public interest in this subject, Garland said they decided to move to unseal the materials.
The warrant and the FBI’s receipt were “given to the former president’s attorney who was on-site during the search,” Garland added.
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