Op/Ed: Bob Casey stands shoulder to shoulder with veterans

By Dave McLimans, Special To The Times

Dave McLimans

I’d been in the Army for two years by the time I arrived in Vietnam, but neither my training nor the stories of other soldiers prepared me for the devastation I encountered there.

Just as chilling as the bombed-out buildings and exhausted troops were the huge swaths of jungle reduced to ghostly lunar landscapes by Agent Orange.

My United Steelworkers (USW) health insurance and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits have helped me to live a full life despite the Type 2 diabetes and other medical conditions I face because of my exposure to this insidious toxin.

Many other veterans struggle to navigate the bureaucracy and access the services they’re owed, however, so I’m grateful to Sen. Bob Casey for co-sponsoring the Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach (CVSO) Act—legislation now before Congress that would empower counties to seek out ex-service members and connect them with care.

Casey’s advocacy for this bill is hardly surprising. When it comes to issues important to veterans, he stands shoulder to shoulder with us.

In 2008, just a year after he took office, Casey learned that nearly 20 service members and contractors had been electrocuted because of faulty wiring on bases in Iraq. Working with the mother of one of the victims, a Pittsburgh resident who reached out to him for help, Casey took a leadership role in pressuring the Defense Department to investigate the deaths, inspect installations for safety violations and implement an electrical code to avert future tragedies.

Casey later helped to pass legislation to speed the processing of veterans’ disability claims, prevent service member suicides, improve veterans’ medical care in rural areas and build homes for low-income veterans.

While these laws enable veterans to live better lives, they also hold the government accountable for the Americans it places it harm’s way and remind the rest of us of the steep price that some pay for the freedoms we all enjoy.

A couple of years ago, Casey helped to write and pass a bill particularly dear to me. The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act represented a historic and long-needed expansion of VA health care.

The law extends VA care to millions more veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and to veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf War exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances. It also requires the VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every patient in its system.

As monumental as this legislation is, Casey understands that it’s just as important to take the next step and reach out to the many veterans who never use benefits they earned, either because they don’t know about them or struggle to access them. He supports the CVSO Act because it would enable counties to hire veteran service officers and ensure that those who served have every opportunity to avail themselves of VA care and other services.

A group of USW members recently met with Casey in Washington, D.C., to speak with him about pending legislation, including the CVSO act.

Casey listened and asked questions. But we didn’t have to ask him to sign on as a co-sponsor. He’d already done so without our asking.

Many people running for office talk about their commitment to the country.

But what’s important to veterans like me is how well a person serves. And Casey’s record of exemplary service stretches back decades.

Dave McLimans, a resident of Parkesburg, was a radar technician with the 7th Field Artillery Regiment in Vietnam. After his discharge, he served as president of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 4588 and worked at the Budd Co., Lukens Steel and Bethlehem Steel. He’s now on the executive board of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) and serves as president of the Chester County Council of the AFL-CIO.