Mr. Biden pointed out that he had worked as a senator to support research into the effects of Agent Orange, and he said younger veterans who had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, often more than once, deserved a similar level of support.
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“Today we’re even slower to connect the dots of what’s happening,” Mr. Biden said during his remarks. He pointed out that new illnesses, including bladder cancer, were still being added as possible outcomes of exposure to Agent Orange, some as recently as last year.
“Science told us more, decades after the exposure took place,” Mr. Biden said. “It took far too long to reach that decision in my view, and I refuse to repeat the mistake when it comes to veterans of our Iraq and Afghan wars.”
Proving a link between toxic substances in war zones and subsequent illnesses suffered by veterans has been politically onerous for lawmakers and prohibitively expensive for many who fall ill. But activists who have fought for benefits for years see a champion in Mr. Biden, who has long speculated that toxic substances from burn pits contributed to the brain cancer of his son. The younger Mr. Biden, who died in 2015, served in Iraq as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard.
“What better advocate can we have than the president of the United States?” Susan Zeier, whose son-in-law died of lung cancer after serving in Iraq, said in an interview. Ms. Zeier, who is part of a group of activists who have been trying for years to get the government’s attention, found a sympathetic listener in Mr. Biden.