WASHINGTON — Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr voted Thursday against the bill they helped craft that would benefit veterans from Camp Lejeune who were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base’s water for nearly three decades.
Tillis and Burr’s Camp Lejeune Justice Act was combined with the Honoring our PACT Act of 2021, and despite their lack of support for the bill, also known as H.R. 3967, it passed 88-14.
In 1985, Camp Lejeune officials closed two wells on the base after discovering the water contained trichlorethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene, vinyl chloride and other toxins. Veterans who served on Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River between August 1953 and December 1987 may have been exposed to these toxins leading to birth problems, high risks of cancers and health issues.
