his name was heath robinson he was a father, a soldier and a fitness fanatic. in an interview with the columbus dispatch a few years ago. he told the paper that at his peak he could bench press 315 pounds, squat 400, and ran two miles and under 12 minutes. he was twice named non commissioned officer of the year by the ohio national guard for his physical prowess. in 2017, sergeant first class heath robinson, was training for a half marathon. when he began to feel weak and tired. a month later he got devastating news. he had lung cancer. that had already spread to his bones and elsewhere. doctors gave him 4 to 8 weeks to live. sergeant first class heath robinson held on much longer than that. but in may of 2020, he died. how did a healthy man contracts such a serious catcher seemingly out of nowhere? his family believes it was from burn pits. toxic piles of flaming waste that heat was exposed to during his time serving in iraq. and his death was on a rare isolated case. an estimated three and a half million veterans have been exposed to toxic substances like bur

sergeant first class heath robinson held on much longer than that. but in may of 2020, he died. how did a healthy man contract such a serious cancer seemingly out of nowhere? his family believes it was from burn pits. toxic piles of flaming waste that heath was exposed to during his time serving in iraq. and his death was on not a rare isolated case, an estimate 3d.5 million veterans have been exposed to toxic substances like burn pits since the september 11th attacks. which is why congress decided to do something to help those veterans. legislation giving them access to the health care and support they desperately needed. the bill was called the sergeant first class heath robinson honoring our promise to address comprehensive toxics act. an early version of the bill to help these veterans passed the senate earlier this year with overwhelming bipartisan support. the vote was 84-14. the senate was supposed to take a procedural vote on that legislation last night. with final passage slated for the end of the week, but democrats announced they struck a surprise deal on a big packag

his name was heath robinson he was a father, a soldier and a fitness fanatic. in an interview with the columbus dispatch a few years ago,. he told people at his peak he could bench press 315 pounds, squat 400, and ran two miles and under 12 minutes. he was twice named non commissioned officer of the year by the ohio national guard for his physical prowess. in 2017, sergeant first class heath robinson, was training for a half marathon. when he began to feel weak and tired. a month later he got devastating news. he had lung cancer. that had already spread to his bones and elsewhere. doctors gave him 4 to 8 weeks to live. sergeant first class heath robinson held on much longer than that. but in may of 2020, he died. how good a healthy man contracts such a serious catcher seemingly out of nowhere? >> his family believes it was from burn pits. toxic piles of flaming waste that heat was exposed to during his time serving in iraq. and his death was on a rare isolated case. an estimated three and a half million veterans have been exposed to toxic substances like burn p

i outline, as you know, that were considering the heath robinson packs acts in the senate. senator ernst has an amendment that i outlined, to you, in my opening statement. the administration issued statements of support for both the house packed, pass packs act, and the robinson act currently on the senate floor, can you certify, which is what senator ernst is looking for, is this indication that you can execute this bill that includes supporting resources and funding that you asked for and sets up funding for the future. can you implement this without negative operational impacts on existing disability claims processing? and health care delivery for veterans. >> yeah, i can, i can certify that, i understand, you and i have talked about this for sometime. i believe this is a very important piece of legislation, i think could be very difficult to implement. oftentimes the most important things are difficult, i think that we are ready for it, we've been preparing it for. you're giving us additional authorities and funding. taking care of one generation of veterans, for exampl

heath robinson went to serve this country. we, he took an oath to protect this country. we some ways dr ruiz and speaker pelosi, you notice we take an oath to welcome them home and to provide for them when they're home and we know this exposure to burn pits the cancers and the bronchial diseases and all that come from this. we know their lives are at risk, their health is at risk. we were this close. it's been it's been more than five years, five years since she and i talked and she got me on board this and joined by senator tester and gillibrand and so many others and speaker pelosi and it's time we do this, do this. and every day we wait for more soldiers and more marines and more people coming home and not getting the health care that they have think back to agent orange that they had to prove each case and beg the v.a. to take care of them and say, well, my illness was caused by georgia. my illness was caused by these burn, my exposure to burn pits. no, they shouldn't have to do that. and that's what this bill is all about

you just heard the passion of heath robinson's mother-in-law, just heartbreaking. we also understand that some of these advocates were escorted by the capitol police out of a senate building. what is your response to that? >> it's dangerous to have to explain to people's faces why you're denying them health care and benefits. so if anybody should have been escorted out of the building, it should have been the senators that chose to stab these veterans in the back. so i have no sympathy for them being asked to explain their really -- i mean, honestly, jake, i don't know what to say. i've been coming down here for years. i've never seen anything like this. and it's not, as i was saying in the press conference, i'm used to lies, i'm used to hypocrisy, i'm used to their cowardice, i'm not used to the cruelty, the casual cruelty of passing a bill they had fought for, for more than a decade. and look, there are vietnam veterans on this bill. they've been fighting since the '60s and '70s, people that fought for us, people that say we support the truth. to pass that bill f

i rise in support of the sergeant first class heath robinson honoring our pact act. when the house first passed the pact act in march i spoke on the floor and urged my colleagues to find a bipartisan solution to give toxic exposed veterans the care and support that we as a country owe them. this bill is that bipartisan solution. and i'm proud to support it. as a 24-year military veteran i have seen firsthand the effects that toxic exposure has had on 3450eu fellow -- my fellow service members. in fact, my knowledge is so intimate that my husband, who is also a 30-year veteran, and i have a close friend, jay, who after his deployment to desert storm that very brief conflict in coming back to the united states came off of the plane and collapsed. developing a heart condition called cardiomy yop pa think which led this 30-year-old to have a heart transplant, nerocies of his hip, with a replacement of his hip, and soon untimely and young death. exposure to the substances can lead to severe life altering diseases. under the current system at the v.a. it can be costly, tim

. >> joining me now is susan zeyer, mother-in-law of sergeant first class heath robinson and advocate of the pact act. condolences of your beloved son-in-law, but i want to show you this video again. i played it a second ago and want to show you again. i apologize for having you make you look at it. these are senators, high-five, celebrating the fact that they blocked this bill. that 25 senate republicans had previously support. when you see that, these senators high-fiving, fist bumping, how does -- what does that say to you, and how does that make you feel? >> well, first off, joy, thank you for having me tonight. that's the first time i've seen that video, and i'm losing my composure right now because i felt that fist bump right in my gut. that was a punch in my gut, and i don't understand how anyone who is sitting on capitol hill working in the senate or the house could have the barbaric audacity to celebrate -- to celebrate and denying va benefits and disability and surviving benefits to the men and women who willingly went off to war and served our country. it's unconscionable.

her husband first class heath robinson, he died from lung cancer. here she is talking about the cost of how long this is taking to get done. >> if you know a veteran who actually took his life because of the delay. he was denied from the va and he lost his private health insurance. he would qualify under this new bill. once he learned about the delay, he actually did take his own life because he wanted to spare his family of losing their home. >> to be clear, she's talking about a previous delay, not the one you caused last week, but what do you say to those who find it impossible to believe that of all the multi-trillions of dollars, this is where you decided to stand? >> here's what you need to keep in mind, jake. first of all, 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 a crime, it could be veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, craft a bill to address their problems and sneak in something unrelated that they know could never be passed on thei

gin joining me now is daniella robinson, the widow of heath robinson who died after battling lung cancer for three years. they attributed his illness from smoke exposure during his trips to iraq in 2006 and 2007. thank you for coming on the show and sharing your story. i'm sorry you had to go through this. >> thank you for having me. this was my husband's dying wish, he knew when he was diagnosed that it was going to be too late for him. and right away when we found out that it was due to toxic exposure, the first thing we did was look at each other and just say, what about our military family and friends? what's going to happen to them. and so his dying wish was to get legislation passed so that veterans do not have to go through a struggle to be their own advocate, their own lawyers, to get help from the va for these toxic exposure illnesses. >> danielle, can you tell me what you thought. initially the senators said they were going to support this bill and then they didn't. what did you think when that happened? >> it was a complete shock and devastating blow to the veteran community.

i want you to take a listen from danielle robinson this morning, her husband sergeant first class heath robinson, who the bill is named after, he died of lung cancer due to burn pit exposure. >> veteran who actually took his life because of the delay. he was denied from the va and he lost his private health insurance. he would qualify under this new bill. once he learned about the delay, he actually did take his own life because he wanted to spare his family of losing their home. >> to be clear, she's talking about a previous delay, not the one you caused last week. but what do you say to those who find it impossible to believe that of all the multitrillion of dollars in our federal budget, this is where you and republicans decided to take a stand? >> here's what you need to keep in mind, jake. first of all, 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 have been exposed to toxic chemicals, craft a bill to address their problems and then sneak in someth

. >> susan's i, or mother-in-law of heath robinson, one of hundreds of veterans advocates asking one question of republicans today -- why? only hours after democrats struck a deal on reconciliation, , senate republicans torpedoed with what's called the pact act. the measure expands health care for millions of long suffering veterans exposed to burn pits overseas. senate republicans insist they had no choice, alleging the funding might quickly become a slush fund. might. a suggestion provoked profound fury from john stewart. >> aint this a bitch. aint this a bitch? america's heroes. who fought in our wars. outside, sweating there as his off. with oxygen, battling all kinds of elements, while they sit in in air conditioning, closed off from any of it. i'm used to all of it. but i'm not used to cruelty. they lived up to their oath. and yesterday, they spit on it. in abject cruelty. these people thought they could finally breathe. you think their struggles end because the pact act passes? all that means is because they don't need to side between their cancer drugs or their house. their s

. >> susan's i, or mother-in-law of heath robinson, one of hundreds of veterans advocates asking one question of republicans today -- why? only hours after democrats struck a deal on reconciliation, senate republicans torpedoed with what's called the pact act. the measure expands health care for millions of long suffering veterans exposed to burn pits overseas. senate republicans insist they had no choice, alleging the funding might quickly become a slush fund. might. suggestion provoked profound fury from john stewart. >> scientists sciences a bit. we anticevich? we america's heroes. who fought in our wars. outside, sweating there as his off. with oxygen, battling all kinds of elements, while they sit in in air conditioning, closed off for many of it. i'm used to all of it. but i'm not used to cruelty. they lived up to their oath. and yesterday, they spit on it. in abject cruelty. these people thought they could finally breathe. you think their struggles and because the pact act passes? all that means is because they don't need to side decide between their cancer drugs on their hous

the sergeant first class heath robinson packed act will ensure that those who serve and are suffering receive the care they need to heal. the debt america owes to these patriots can never be fully repaid. but we can make a down payment by delivering the care to help them overcome, the care that they have most certainly earned. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? indiana seek recognition recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate the upcoming 150th anniversary of aessential st. vincent hospital, formerly st. mary's hospital in evansville, indiana. althou the name has changed, its goal of providing quality care for citizens of the tri-state area has remained constant. i practiced cardio there's aic surgery there before elected -- being elected to congress. since they accepted their first patient in 1872, aessential st. vincent has remained true to