Dear John,
Sign now: Support military veterans sick and dying from toxic burn pits—press Congress to provide the healthcare and benefits they urgently need.
Will you add your name to this petition to support our military veterans, started by former Daily Show host Jon Stewart and John Feal, who have both been fighting to get veterans the care and benefits our country owes them for their service?1
In Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of tons of waste from military bases were doused with jet and diesel fuels and burned in massive burn pits—as American soldiers lived, worked, and slept next to the toxic fumes. Now that they’re home, hundreds of thousands of veterans are sick and dying from devastating lung diseases, cancers, and respiratory illnesses.2
The Veterans Affairs Department and the Defense Department’s own data highlight the health dangers of burn pits. However, they continue to ignore our veterans’ suffering and deaths caused by their neglect, and the VA has denied many veterans' burn pit claims.3
Help our veterans fight for the care they deserve—sign the petition now pressing Congress to pass a bill making the VA expand healthcare and benefits to veterans sickened and dying by toxic burn pits.
Sign Now
The U.S. military paid private companies like Halliburton subsidiary KBR billions of taxpayer dollars to burn human waste, aerosols, Styrofoam, medical waste, biohazardous materials, body parts, trucks, and explosives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, troops got sick and started dying. But our government, who sent these servicemembers into harm's way, is now turning its back on them while it gives private defense contractors sweet deals.4
And for every soldier returning with horrific health problems, there are untold numbers of servicemembers who continue to be subjected to burn pit sites and toxic smoke to this day. The Defense Department and VA must stop the use of the active burn pits once and for all.
In addition, Congress must make health care and compensation available to veterans and servicemembers who are suffering exposure-related health effects and give surviving families of deceased veterans the benefits they deserve.
Click here to sign this petition now—and then pass it along to your friends, family, and anyone else you think will care about this important issue.
Thanks for all you do!
– MoveOn
P.S. This petition was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition to push for progressive change here.
Sources:
1. “Watch Jon Stewart Demand Justice for Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits in New Show,” Military.com, September 30, 2021
https://www.military.com/off-duty/television/2021/09/30/watch-jon-stewart-demand-justice-veterans-exposed-burn-pits-new-show.html
2. “Veterans face uphill battle to receive treatment for 'burn pit' exposure”, NBC News, April 12, 2021
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/veterans-face-uphill-battle-receive-treatment-burn-pit-exposure-n1263862
3. Ibid.
4. "'They really don't want this out': The biggest Iraq War scandal that nobody's talking about," Salon, February 17, 2016
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG CIVIC ACTION, https://front.moveon.org/about-moveon-civic-action/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
