Today, I take the opportunity to pay tribute to the numerous veterans within my family, spanning from WWII to Iraq, with a special emphasis on honoring my father, Staff Sergeant Lawrence Staton. He was a two-time Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, and I had the privilege of being by his side as he passed away in a Kentucky Veterans Hospital this past January, following a brief but intense three-week struggle against swift and destructive cancer. In the aftermath, while managing his affairs, I came across records from his military service, including several notifications highlighting the perils of burn pit exposure.
Notably, Fulcher voted against the PACT Act numerous times which passed in spite of his attempts to obstruct it. The VA called the PACT Act “perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history.” In addition to expanding eligibility for VA health care for veterans with toxic exposures and veterans from the Vietnam, Gulf War and post-9/11 eras, it added numerous conditions for which veterans can qualify for benefits for exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, radiation and more without having to first prove service connection, and launched a new toxic exposure screening program for all veterans enrolled in VA health care. The bill also expands VA research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures.
Fulcher is also one of only 44 members of congress to vote against the DOULA for VA Act of 2022. This legislation improves maternal, mental health, and infant care outcomes by providing doula support services. Doulas are support providers, trained to provide physical, emotional, and informational support for women throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period, and research has shown them to lead to better birth outcomes.
Why is Fulcher opposed to healthy pregnancies for our military families?
