SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — President Joe Biden will mark the first anniversary of legislation that is producing results the largest expansion in veteran benefits in decades on Thursday by introducing the bipartisan PACT Act, accompanied by Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
The Democratic President and GOP Governor will visit the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to promote legislation that would increase health care and disability compensation for exposure to toxic substances, such as B. Incinerator pits used for garbage disposal at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 348,000 veterans had their applications approved last year, and about 111,000 believed to have been exposed to toxic exposures have enrolled in health care.
The president is ending a three-state western swing in which he combines events focused on the accomplishments of his first term with fundraising for campaigns designed to help him win a second. Both Biden and Cox have stressed the need to find common ground across party lines.
The problem of veteran care is also personally for Biden. He has long believed his eldest son’s fatal brain tumor was caused by exposure to burn pits while serving overseas in the Delaware National Guard. At a fundraiser in Albuquerque on Tuesday, Biden said his son Beau died “because of Iraq.”
The benefits expansion pleased supporters, but it has tested the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is scrambling to increase staff to cope with the influx of claims. The backlog of disability claims, which have remained undecided for at least four months, is expected to increase from about 266,000 currently to 730,000 in April.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a recent interview with the Associated Press that the department is ahead of its internal projections and is working to process veterans’ claims more quickly.
“Having encouraged them to come to us and submit their claims, we want them to continue to have a good experience with us by receiving a timely response to those claims,” he said. “That’s the biggest challenge.”
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a recent interview with the Associated Press that the department is ahead of its internal projections and is working to process veterans’ claims more quickly.
“Having encouraged them to come to us and submit their claims, we want them to continue to have a good experience with us by receiving a timely response to those claims,” he said. “That’s the biggest challenge.”
Although there is no deadline to submit an application, anyone who makes a claim by Monday or simply signals their intention can collect payments backdated to the last year if the claim is approved.
The original deadline was Wednesday, but officials extended it due to technical difficulties with the VA website.
Biden was also scheduled to hold a fundraiser for re-election on Thursday before returning to Washington.
His visit to Utah was marred by violence. Just hours before Biden arrived in the state on Wednesday, FBI agents fatally shot a man suspected of threatening to kill Biden when they tried to serve a search warrant at his home in Provo, about an hour’s drive south of Salt Lake City. The man posted online Monday that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah and again made threats against the president, according to court documents.
A White House official, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss the matter, said Biden was briefed after the incident.
Utah is Biden’s third and final stop on his trip this week. He started in Arizona where he explained a new national monument near the Grand Canyon on Tuesday.
His next stop was Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he hosted a fundraiser and toured the future site of a wind tower factory. The facility previously produced Solo cups and plastics, but has closed in recent years.
Biden is trying to persuade voters that his economic policies, which include clean energy tax credits, have resulted in new jobs and lower inflation as he seeks a second term.