CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Monday, senators brought a bill forward to help veterans for a second time. Last weekend in Washington D.C. veterans protested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, fighting for health care help.
President Joe Biden facetimed protestors offering his support in their fight for a bill that would expand health care to millions of veterans.
The bill would extend benefits to the more than 3.5 million veterans exposed to toxic burn pits while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It was expected to pass last week, however, about two dozen senate republicans changed their vote on what they claim was an added provision.
RELATED: Burn Pits 360 co-founder calls out U.S. Senators that voted against veterans' benefits bill
Rosie Lopez-Torres, Co-founder of Burn Pits 360, had strong words for the 25 senators that voted against the PACT ACT, better known as the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act and passed the house of representatives earlier this year.
After the senate initially voted 84-to-14 in favor of the legislation in June, Torres said one senator is leading an effort to undo the progress they've made.
"Veterans were not trained to give up, they were trained to fight. We will mobilize our veteran community and we will mobilize America," Torres said.
Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania on Twitter, called the PACT Act, a "gimmick." Saying it "allows $400 billion in spending completely unrelated to veterans care."
"They voted in favor of the bill and then in the eleventh hour, these 25 republicans switched their vote because they're claiming we have some budgetary gimmick that's loaded inside this bill," Torres said. "They're playing politics with human lives and that's not right. It's not right and it's infuriating."
Torres believes it is nothing more than partisan politics at work.
"Partisan politics happening here in Washington riding on the backs of veterans who are sick and dying so we're still here," Torres said. "The veterans are all here they're not going anywhere, they've been sleeping on the steps right behind me since last Thursday."
Torres added that they're not leaving until they get a cloture vote or a final vote. She also hopes two Texas senators flip their votes in support of the bill, which they both supported initially.
"I just want to say to our senators in Texas, senators Cruz and Cornyn that they shouldn't use veterans as political pawns," Torres said, "and that every day that they say no to this vote is another dead veteran who has died from cancer or suicide."
She adds that she and others on the steps of capitol hill are still holding strong.
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