(Video Credit: CNN)
Republican Senator Pat Toomey hotly defended his vote against the burn pits bill on Sunday, calling out “pseudo-celebrities” such as Jon Stewart for attacking him and Democrats for using vets as political pawns.
The bill would have ostensibly expanded healthcare benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits during their service. However, Democrats reportedly inserted legislation that had nothing to do with that. When Republicans were not allowed to amend the bill and voted against it, the left then proceeded to insinuate they hate veterans.
Stewart targeted Toomey after the vote and excoriated Republicans for standing against the bill. He called Toomey a “f***ing coward” when the bill failed.
The PACT Act has long been promoted by Stewart. It is meant to assist veterans who were exposed to burn pit toxins in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of these service members now suffer from asthma and deadly cancers, according to Stewart.
(Video Credit: The Problem With Jon Stewart)
The bill passed in the Senate 84 to 14 in June. Then it was forced back to a House floor vote because of a technical error. It fell five votes short of the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.
Forty-two Republicans voted against the bill called the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. Toomey led the GOP opposition to the bill because its text defined the spending as “mandatory” rather than “discretionary.”
He told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was against the bill because of “an unrelated $400 billion spending spree that has nothing to do with veterans and that won’t be in the veterans’ space.”
“This is the oldest trick in Washington. People take a sympathetic group of Americans – and it could be children with an illness, it could be victims of crime, it could be veterans who’ve been exposed to toxic chemicals – craft a bill to address their problems, and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare Republicans to do anything about it,” Toomey charged.
The PACT Act could have passed weeks ago if Democrats had dropped the spending boondoggle that is completely unrelated to veterans.
— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) July 30, 2022
“They know they will unleash their allies in the media and maybe a pseudo-celebrity to make up false accusations to try to get us to just swallow what shouldn’t be there,” he said taking a shot at Jon Stewart.
Toomey went on to explain that he was working on an amendment to the bill that he claimed would “not change by one penny any spending on any veterans program.”
“My change, honest people acknowledge, will have no effect on the amount of money or the circumstances under which the money for veterans is being spent,” he stated.
In June, Schumer promised amendment votes before reneging on that promise. Senator Tester is working in good faith to get this resolved. Let’s vote this week and find out where the majority of the Senate stands.
— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) July 30, 2022
Stewart took a slap at Toomey on Sunday, asserting that his amendment “is really about capping the fund” during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“The Toomey amendment doesn’t change it from mandatory to discretionary. It’s still mandatory,” Stewart stated. “It’s about putting caps on it and giving it a sunset clause for ten years.”
On GOP amendment saying the veteran health care bill should be discretionary, @jonstewart tells @jonkarl: "We've been through this with the 9/11 first responders."
"The Toomey amendment is really about capping the fund… and giving it a sunset clause." https://t.co/TGr4RJomRI pic.twitter.com/gWtZnbwahK
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 31, 2022
Morning @SenToomey I'd rather be a pseudo celeb than pseudo Senator! Take your amendment vote at the same 60 threshold Veterans had to hit…Good luck capping and rationing care!!!!!
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 31, 2022
Funny. @SenToomey never called for spending caps on the war…only on the health care for veterans sickened by said wars. Interesting priorities. #PassthePactact
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 31, 2022
Then, Stewart invoked 9/11. He claimed that the amendment would do to the burn pits bill what a previous Senate amendment did to the September 11th victims compensation fund in setting an expiration date on the legislation.
“What Toomey’s amendment wants to do is make sure that our sick and dying veterans have the pleasure that our 9/11 first responders at Ground Zero had of having to come back to Washington, hat in hand, riddled with cancer, and march through the halls of The Hill begging for money every year,” Stewart accused.
He said he would “absolutely” still support the bill if it passed with the amendment, but can’t understand why it is not moving forward.
“I have no idea. I mean the whole thing has been – this is so bananas. Nothing changed. So, I don’t understand any of this,” he stated, exasperated.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disingenuously decried Republicans for standing in the way of the bill’s passage.
(Video Credit: The Dail Mail)
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