CLEVELAND — On Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate was supposed to take a final vote on the PACT Act on Monday night. That's the bill that would provide help for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the vote never happened.
Burn pits were used to dispose of chemicals, human waste, paints and other toxic materials. Veterans were exposed to these fumes and it caused them severe illnesses, even cancer.
Tim Hauser from Twinsburg has been fighting for benefits for 25 years.
Hauser served the Gulf War and spent hours around burn pits.
He has lung damage and heart issues to name a few of his illnesses. Hauser says the PACT Act was a done deal, then 25 GOP Senators changed their minds after agreeing to pass it.
Hauser says Republicans are concerned over how the billions of dollars would be spent. He adds that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called him on Monday evening and said the vote would most likely happen on Tuesday.
The fight for benefits has been long and hard for Hauser.
"You have to be your own lawyer/advocate/researcher doctor/in order to get anything done," he says. The VA, for some reason, decided burn pits were not going to be an injury of war."
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