LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., on Thursday announced she's introducing a bill to help veterans exposed to toxins and radiation at classified sites the health care they've been denied because of secrecy.
The bill — named for retired Air Force Sgt. Dave Crete, who founded the group "The Invisible Enemy" to advocate for vets — will be formally introduced next week, Rosen said at a news conference outside her Las Vegas office.
"This legislation is about justice. It's about accountability. It's about honoring the promise that we make to every person who has worn or currently wears the uniform of the United States military," Rosen said.
WATCH | Rosen bill aimed at helping sick vets
According to the senator, the bill would:
- Require the Defense Department to classify the Nevada Test and Training Range as a contaminated location.
- Require the department to identify everyone who worked at the range since nuclear testing began.
- Require the department to share that information with the Veterans Administration, along with injuries and specific exposures veterans experienced during their service.
That will allow veterans — who currently can't discuss the specifics of where they were or what they did — to explain to doctors what they were exposed to, helping them get better medical care.
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And once their illnesses are officially connected to their service, they will receive full coverage for any ailments, along with their family members.
Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, who has introduced a companion bill in the House with fellow Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei, said the matter is urgent.
"It's almost embarrassing that we ask our men and women to serve our country, and then make it so damn difficult for them to get the care that they need," she said. "Every single day that we wait, we see one veteran every two days fall from their exposure. And so this is time critical. We need the secretary [of defense, Pete Hegseth] to act as soon as possible, but in the meantime, the senator and I are not going to give up, and we're going to continue to fight."
For his part, Crete says the bill would be a victory in the three-year fight he's waged to raise awareness of the plight of what he estimates are 3,000 to 5,000 vets who served in classified areas who have had trouble connecting their service to their ailments.
"It's a great honor to serve your country, to serve in the military, because you know that there's a reason you're doing something that's truly greater than yourself," he said. "The greatest thing that I could do today is to serve those I served with."
Crete says getting benefits is especially important for veterans' families, since if a sick vet dies before his illness is considered service-related, family members could go without any coverage.
"It's one of the worst parts for us as the veterans is, we know we brought this home," he said. "We brought it home to our wives. They've had miscarriages. They've got cancer, because we bring our dirty laundry home, and then it altered our chromosomes and DNA, and so we pass it along like that to our kids and it becomes generational. And the sad thing is the government knew this before they sent us up, but they decided it was worth it."
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., also has a bill that would establish a presumption that, if a worker was present in a particular contaminated area, their illness was caused by exposure in that area. Her bill was held up in committee because of requirements that its costs be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.
Rosen said her bill would not add veterans to the list of people eligible for health care benefits, since most vets get government care after their service. But, she said, there's another debt to be paid.
"What was the cost? The cost of our freedom is their illness. The cost of our freedom is their illness," she said. "And every one of them have told me they wouldn't have not served, even if they knew, because they understood what they did. But remind everyone the cost of our freedom is borne on the backs of our servicemen and women, and whatever burden that they bear."
Crete says he's hopeful that the bill will pass.
"I think when people understand our story, you can't be against it, because it's just tragic," he said. "And my goal is to fix it, and I truly believe we will."
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