“I think puncturing is the right term”

Comedian and “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart is angry that, once again, the Department of Veterans Affairs is “footing” the ball on helping veterans.

A meeting with VA Secretary Denis McDonough on Friday left Stewart and some U.S. troops frustrated as they were told “additional information” was needed to move forward to see if U.S. veterans sickened by uranium they are covered

“The secretary today said he has the authority legally to make the change, to make sure the K2 veterans are presumptively covered,” Stewart said. seconds in the Associated Press.

But McDonough said there would be a delay pending more information, prompting Stewart to say, “I think period is the right term for what happened.”

Many troops deployed shortly after 9/11 were exposed to uranium at a former chemical weapons site in Uzbekistan. Many service members died after exposure and many remain ill, trying to get the government to cover medical costs for years.

According to AP:

The denied claims were supposed to have been fixed by the PACT Act, a major veterans aid package bill that President Joe Biden signed in 2022 and said is one of his proudest achievements in office. It has made access to care much easier for many veterans.

But the bill left out uranium exposure that still harms some of the first troops deployed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Within weeks of the attacks, special operations forces were sent to Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan, or K2, a heavily contaminated former Soviet base that was a strategic location for launching operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Stewart has long advocated for veterans and 9/11 first responders and was more than frustrated by another delay.

“Getting these guys in front of the DoD doesn't do anything because they're going to obfuscate them, but getting them in front of the White House would be very important,” he told reporters after the meeting.

Let's do it!!!! https://t.co/r732B5UfA7

— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 26, 2024

“We continue to urgently consider all options to further assist these veterans and survivors, and we will keep them informed every step of the way,” said VA spokesman Terrence Hayes.

The Department of Defense is reportedly “aware of the health issues and associated claims of veterans” who served at K2 and is “working with the Department of Veterans Affairs on a way forward,” according to a statement from Sabrina Singh, Pentagon deputy press secretary.

K2 vets stationed at the base with 40,000 times normal ground radiation. 40,000 times. However, DOD and VA continue to dispute the exposure… great article by Tara Copp and big thanks to @C__Herridge for your exceptional reporting and determination to keep this story alive! https://t.co/JorXRAxXxb

— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) July 23, 2024

“More than 15,000 soldiers deployed to K2 from 2001 to 2005. Although the VA does not have statistics on how many are sick, the veterans' grassroots organization has contacted about 5,000 of them and more than 1,500 report serious medical conditions, including cancers, kidney and bone problems, reproductive problems and birth defects,” the AP reported.

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida, where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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