President Joe Biden spent several hours in Massachusetts on Tuesday afternoon for a series of campaign events, causing a flurry of traffic in Boston. He was greeted by Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu on the tarmac at Logan Airport upon landing around 3:25 p.m. Boston police said traffic would be impacted through 8 p.m. by street closures near Boston’s Logan International Airport, the Back Bay and the Seaport District for the president’s visit. Air Force One departed Logan Airport around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. MAP: 5 Alert TrafficEarlier in the day, shortly after Air Force One landed, the MBTA announced that Green, Blue and Red Line trains “may temporarily stand by at stations at the request of Transit Police.” Regular service resumed just before 4 p.m.Video below: Protesters outside Biden’s fundraising eventsProtesters and the arrival of Biden caused gridlock in Boston’s Seaport on Tuesday afternoon. Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down a busy intersection on Congress Street, with dozens marching from South Station following Biden’s motorcade to a fundraising event. “The point of us doing this is for you to be uncomfortable because there are children that are dying. They’re starved. They don’t have water. They don’t have medicine,” one protester said. At fundraisers in Boston, the president told supporters the threat that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump poses is greater in the second term than it was in the first.Video below: Biden greeted by Healey, WuThe president started his trip in New Hampshire, where he aimed to highlight his legislative accomplishments this election year, specifically the impact of a law that helps military veterans get benefits as a result of burn pit or other toxic exposure during their service.In raw numbers, more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022, the administration said Tuesday. That amounts to about 888,000 veterans and survivors in all 50 states who have been able to receive disability benefits under the law.That totals about $5.7 billion in benefits given to veterans and their survivors, according to the administration.The PACT Act is relatively lower profile compared to the president’s other legislative accomplishments, such as a bipartisan infrastructure law and a sweeping tax, climate and health care package but it is deeply personal for Biden.He has blamed burn pits for the brain cancer that killed his son Beau, who served in Iraq, and has vowed repeatedly that he would get the PACT Act into law. Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were disposed of on military bases and were used in Iraq and Afghanistan.Video below: Air Force One landing in BostonBefore the law, the Department of Veterans Affairs denied 70% of disability claims that involved burn pit exposure. Now, the law requires the VA to assume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit or other toxic exposure without veterans having to prove the link.Before Biden’s planned remarks, he went to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Merrimack, New Hampshire. The president met there with Lisa Clark, an Air Force veteran who is receiving benefits through the PACT Act because her late husband, Senior Master Sergeant Carl Clark, was exposed to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden spent several hours in Massachusetts on Tuesday afternoon for a series of campaign events, causing a flurry of traffic in Boston.
He was greeted by Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu on the tarmac at Logan Airport upon landing around 3:25 p.m.
Boston police said traffic would be impacted through 8 p.m. by street closures near Boston’s Logan International Airport, the Back Bay and the Seaport District for the president’s visit.
Air Force One departed Logan Airport around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, shortly after Air Force One landed, the MBTA announced that Green, Blue and Red Line trains “may temporarily stand by at stations at the request of Transit Police.” Regular service resumed just before 4 p.m.
Video below: Protesters outside Biden’s fundraising events
Protesters and the arrival of Biden caused gridlock in Boston’s Seaport on Tuesday afternoon.
Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down a busy intersection on Congress Street, with dozens marching from South Station following Biden’s motorcade to a fundraising event.
“The point of us doing this is for you to be uncomfortable because there are children that are dying. They’re starved. They don’t have water. They don’t have medicine,” one protester said.
At fundraisers in Boston, the president told supporters the threat that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump poses is greater in the second term than it was in the first.
Video below: Biden greeted by Healey, Wu
The president started his trip in New Hampshire, where he aimed to highlight his legislative accomplishments this election year, specifically the impact of a law that helps military veterans get benefits as a result of burn pit or other toxic exposure during their service.
In raw numbers, more than 1 million claims have been granted to veterans since Biden signed the so-called PACT Act into law in August 2022, the administration said Tuesday. That amounts to about 888,000 veterans and survivors in all 50 states who have been able to receive disability benefits under the law.
That totals about $5.7 billion in benefits given to veterans and their survivors, according to the administration.
The PACT Act is relatively lower profile compared to the president’s other legislative accomplishments, such as a bipartisan infrastructure law and a sweeping tax, climate and health care package but it is deeply personal for Biden.
He has blamed burn pits for the brain cancer that killed his son Beau, who served in Iraq, and has vowed repeatedly that he would get the PACT Act into law. Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were disposed of on military bases and were used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Video below: Air Force One landing in Boston
Before the law, the Department of Veterans Affairs denied 70% of disability claims that involved burn pit exposure. Now, the law requires the VA to assume that certain respiratory illnesses and cancers were related to burn pit or other toxic exposure without veterans having to prove the link.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
