President Joe Biden will return to Delaware on Friday to participate in a town hall about recently signed legislation that expanded health care benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic substances.
Biden will speak with veterans about the PACT Act at the Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard/Reserve Center near New Castle. Beau Biden, the former Delaware attorney general who died from brain cancer in 2015, served as a major in the Delaware Army National Guard.
The president has publicly speculated that his elder son developed brain cancer due to his exposure to burn pits while serving in Iraq.
“Toxic smoke, thick with poisons, spreading through the air and into the lungs of our troops,” Biden said during the bill’s signing in August. “When they came home, many of the fittest and best warriors that we sent to war were not the same. Headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancer. My son Beau was one of them.”
During the town hall, Biden is expected to encourage veterans to sign up for health care, get screened for potential toxic exposure and submit insurance claims if they are experiencing a related condition. It’s one of 90 nationwide events the Biden Administration is holding on this legislation.
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This town hall will be among the handful of presidential events Biden has held in Delaware this year.
In October, Biden spoke at Delaware State University about the White House’s student loan debt forgiveness program. It was the first time a president visited the historically Black university’s campus. He also spoke at the University of Delaware’s commencement in the spring.
This Saturday also marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and baby daughter, Naomi, a tragedy that has defined the president’s personal and political life.
Biden often visits the graves of his family members when he is back at his Greenville home, including on the anniversary of the car accident.
