Rosen’s Bipartisan FORGOTTEN Veterans Act Advances in Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is announcing that her bipartisan FORGOTTEN Veterans Act has advanced out of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. This bill officially recognizes the toxic exposures veterans endured during their service at the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), and other Department of Energy (DOE) Covered Facilities, where DOE employees are already presumed to have been exposed, while the servicemembers who served alongside them are not. This will provide veterans a basis to submit PACT Act claims for the benefits they deserve.

From the 1950s through the 1990s, the NTTR - and the Nevada Test Site contained within it - conducted over 900 explosive nuclear weapons tests and other dangerous, toxic activities. Currently, due to issues with the classified nature of their location while serving, and the disparity between locations the DOE and the Department of Defense (DOD) considers contaminated, veterans who served at the NTTR are unable to prove their service there to the VA and are unable to receive care and benefits connected with exposure because the DOD and VA do not consider the NTTR to be a location where contamination occurred, as DOE does.

"For decades, the men and women who served our nation in uniform at the Nevada Test and Training Range were exposed to toxic radiation that has been responsible for their health challenges," said Senator Rosen. "It is unconscionable that one U.S. government agency deems portions of the range as contaminated and their personnel exposed, while another U.S. government agency does not. This has prevented our veterans from receiving the same presumption of exposure that DOE civilians they served alongside receive, and has meant a denial of PACT Act benefits they are legally entitled. I am proud that my bipartisan bill to rectify this injustice has passed out of committee, and I will continue fighting until our veterans can access the care and benefits they deserve for their selfless service to this country."

Senator Rosen has been a consistent advocate for veterans, always fighting to make sure they have the right to the full benefits and services they are entitled to. Last year, she included much of her FORGOTTEN Veterans Act in the Senate's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, however, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson blocked its inclusion in the final FY2026 NDAA. This year, Senator Rosen was able to push the Trump Administration into reversing a rule that would have decreased benefits for disabled veterans. Additionally, Senator Rosen voted to overturn an extreme Trump abortion ban for women Veterans. She has also introduced legislation to allow medical providers to more easily practice between departments and bolster access to health care for servicemembers and veterans.

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