Biden urges veterans to seek health benefits under new law
By HANNAH FINGERHUT and CHRIS MEGERIAN
Associated Press
NEW CASTLE, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden has visited a National Guard facility in Delaware to talk about expanded veterans benefits for exposure to toxins under legislation that he signed in August. The National Guard facility is named after his late son, Beau Biden, who served as a major in Iraq and later died of brain cancer. The president has said he believes his son’s fatal illness stemmed from his exposure to “burn pits” in Iraq. The new law, known as the PACT Act, helps veterans get screened and treated for toxins that could include Agent Orange, which was used for deforestation during the Vietnam War, or burn pits, where trash was destroyed on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
