Group knocks Boebert over PACT Act opposition

A liberal-leaning nonprofit group is knocking Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) over her opposition to a bill that provides increased health care benefits for some veterans on the anniversary of its passage. 

Rocky Mountain Values released an advertisement Thursday featuring a Marine Corps veteran from Colorado discussing Boebert’s vote against the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for millions of veterans in the post-9/11 era who were exposed to toxic burn pits and are suffering illnesses as a result. 

The veteran notes that Boebert was criticized by her Democratic opponent for reelection last year, Adam Frisch, for opposing a wide range of other bills on veterans’ issues after she promoted her support for a few pieces of veterans legislation.

“If there’s one thing that sticks with you from serving, is you leave no one behind. But Lauren Boebert voted against health care for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits. They come back and they’re sick. We have a responsibility to make sure that these individuals are taken care of when they return from war,” the veteran says. 

The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress before President Biden signed it into law last August. It was temporarily held up in the Senate by 25 Republicans who initially supported it over a provision, but a deal was eventually reached for it to advance. 

Boebert has been known during her tenure in the House for stirring controversy, and she narrowly won reelection in her slightly conservative-leaning congressional district last November by fewer than 600 votes. Frisch is running again in 2024 to try to unseat her, and the seat will likely be a top target for Democrats trying to regain control of the House next year. 

Frisch raised three times more in funding than Boebert did during the second quarter this year. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report labeled the race a “toss-up” last month. 

A Colorado mayor and a few other candidates have also entered the race for the Democratic nomination to face Boebert. 

The PACT Act set up a framework to create presumptions for service being tied to toxic exposures and expanded coverage for 23 burn pit-related illnesses.