Senate Republicans are facing a showdown on Monday with a group of angry veterans who say they’ll refuse to leave Capitol Hill until the chamber passes a massive toxic exposure bill that was derailed last week.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has vowed to bring the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins, or PACT Act, back to the floor for a vote this week after 25 Republicans switched their vote to block the bill’s final passage.
“These men and women have fought for all of your freedoms and Congress has turned their backs on them,” said Rosie Lopez-Torres, executive director of Burn Pits 360, a group that advocates for veterans exposed to hazardous burn pits during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.