GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert heckled Biden as he spoke about veterans dying of cancer, including his son

Veterans are "the backbone and spine of this country," President Biden said during Tuesday's State of the Union address, and he believes the United States has "a sacred obligation" to care for them while they serve and once they come home.

Biden said his administration is providing assistance to veterans seeking job training and housing, and will do more for those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and "faced many dangers, one being stationed at bases breathing in toxic smoke from burn pits." Those burn pits incinerate "the waste of war, medical and hazardous material, jet fuel, and so much more," Biden said. Many troops who breathe this in, some of "the fittest and best trained warriors of the world," come home and are "never the same."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.