Arkansas Online

SIGNING CAPS long journey for Mena veteran.

FRANK E. LOCKWOOD

During his years-long battle to expand care for veterans exposed to toxic herbicides, Bill Rhodes of Mena spent a lot of time in Washington, D.C., lobbying for legislation that would do just that.

This week, the 73-yearold veteran journeyed there again, this time to celebrate passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics — or PACT — Act.

Ushered into the White House Wednesday morning, he witnessed President Joe Biden sign bipartisan legislation which included provisions he had championed.

After all his efforts to change the law, “It was a good feeling to see it done. It was very emotional,” Rhodes said.

The law largely benefits veterans who served on bases in Afghanistan and Iraq where burn pits were used to dispose of tires, plastics, chemicals, medical waste and other material.

But it also includes service members exposed to toxic chemicals in other locations, including Cambodia, Laos, Guam, American Samoa and Thailand, where Rhodes briefly served.

During the Vietnam War era, the U.S. military used Agent Orange and a variety of other “tactical herbicides” to kill vegetation and defoliate trees.

Rhodes, who joined the military in 1968, was briefly stationed, in 1973, at an air base in Nam Phong, Thailand, where herbicides were used, he said.

After more than a decade of service, he exited with the rank of staff sergeant, but subsequently developed heart disease, prostate cancer and diabetes, illnesses he attributes to his time on the base.

For years, the Veterans Administration denied Rhodes services, arguing that he did not qualify under the Agent Orange Act of 1991 or subsequent laws.

In 2017 and 2019, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., introduced legislation expanding eligibility so that it would cover Rhodes and others like him, but it did not become law.

In 2021, Boozman, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, filed a bill yet again. Working with Committee Chairman U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., he was able to gain traction.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., sponsored a House version as well.

The provisions were ultimately included in the legislation Biden signed.

“We’re really, really excited about the bill coming to fruition,” Boozman said, noting that it would benefit veterans from recent wars, as well.

“This is something that the veterans service organizations, active duty military, retired — everyone — has worked so hard to make sure that we’re keeping the promises that we made to the men and women who served,” he said.

The lawmaker from Rogers stressed the bipartisan nature of the legislation.

“The public likes to see Democrats and Republicans working in unison,” he said. “This is something where we really came together and have produced a very good piece of legislation that’s going to make a big difference in a lot of veterans’ lives.”

It won’t change Rhodes’ health care much.

With the help of an attorney, he was able to get the services he needed last year, the Mena man said. But he and other veterans continued advocating for the legislation, maintaining it would help others like him.

“We came up here and spent two weeks later summer. … We had 57 meetings in nine days with congressmen and senators or their staff,” he said.

Giving up wasn’t an option, he said.

“If you start something, you’re supposed to finish it,” he said.

Under the new law, American veterans are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange if they served at any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand between Jan. 9, 1962 and June 30, 1976.

When one of these veterans develops an illness that has been linked to herbicide exposure, the government now presumes that the medical condition is service-related.

The list includes type-2 diabetes, prostate cancer and a number of other ailments.

Westerman, who had supported a smaller set of changes, ultimately opposed the PACT Act.

“I am thankful to have worked with Mr. Bill Rhodes from Mena on this legislation that will help veterans across the nation by ensuring veterans exposed to toxic chemicals while stationed in Thailand receive the care they deserve and have earned,” he said in a written statement. “I am disappointed, however, that the bill was included in a package that mandates over $650 billion in new spending that will only add to our national debt with no meaningful attempt to offset the spending.”

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2022-08-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281698323523469

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