Three North Carolina Republicans recently penned an op-ed in the Jacksonville Daily News calling on Congress to honor Camp Lejeune Marine veterans and their families by passing the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act.
Senator Thom Tillis and Representatives Greg Murphy and Richard Hudson said for decades, service members and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune drank, bathed, and cooked with water contaminated by toxic chemicals — a danger now known to government but left unaddressed for years.
They called the human toll “heartbreaking” and said veterans, their families, and civilians have faced devastating illnesses, and for too many, untimely deaths linked directly to that poisoned water.
In 2022, Congress passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, giving affected veterans and their families a two-year window to sue the government, but three years later, countless victims are still waiting for relief.
The implementation of the CLJA has been mired in red tape, legal bottlenecks, and procedural hurdles that have slowed justice to a crawl, which led to the introduction earlier this year of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act.
Related content: Camp Lejeune Justice Act Series
The bill increases the number of courts where Camp Lejeune cases can be heard; affirms the right to a jury trial, which the lawmakers said was the intent of the original legislation but opposition has left that right uncertain; and also sets reasonable caps on attorney fees to ensure that financial relief Congress intended for veterans and victims benefits them, not the lawyers representing them.
The lawmakers said the time for delay is over, and Congress must come together and pass the legislation.
