(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today joined area veterans, along with local, state, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Fort Harrison Veterans Hospital in Helena.

In his remarks, Tester highlighted a bipartisan agreement he struck earlier this week on historic, comprehensive legislation—the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022—to deliver all generations of toxic-exposed veterans their earned health care and benefits under VA for the first time in the nation’s history.

“I’m proud to announce that the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee struck a bipartisan deal on historic legislation for toxic-exposed veterans—a deal that frankly, has been years if not decades in the making,” said Senator Tester. “We’re one step closer to paying the cost of war and delivering all generations of toxic-exposed vets the relief they need…but we’ve got more work to do to make sure our veterans are getting the care they’ve earned.”

He continued, “As Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I’ll keep fighting to provide VA employees in Montana and across the country with the tools, pay, and quality working conditions they need to continue serving our veterans with world-class health care and benefits they’ve earned for years to come.”

Tester is the only member of the Montana delegation who sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and he is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. For years, he has been a bipartisan champion for Montana veterans in the Senate, working to secure resources for the expansion of benefits and care at VA facilities across the state, including the new primary care clinic at the Fort Harrison campus.