The U.S. Senate finally passed the bill that will provide health care and disability compensation to millions of veterans sickened by environmental exposures during their time in service.

The 86-11 vote on the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, also known as the PACT Act, came six days after the bill's legislative collapse in the Senate. That failure sparked protests and an around-the-clock vigil by veterans and family members at the U.S. Capitol, drawing national attention to the plight of troops with illnesses related to living and working near openair waste disposal burn pits or who were exposed to radiation, herbicides and other chemicals encountered on battlefields.

The bill will now go to President Joe Biden's desk. He is expected to sign it in the coming weeks.

The Senate voted July 27 to advance the bill, 55-42. But it fell short of the 60 needed for it to head to a final vote. The failure sparked outrage among veterans and advocates who have worked for years to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and those from other eras who inhaled chemicals or were exposed to carcinogens during service were guaranteed access to health care and disability benefits.

Veterans camped out in 90-plus-degree heat, high humidity and driving rain and storms to force the Senate to reconsider. For six days sympathetic senators, VA Secretary Denis McDonough and advocates, including comedian Jon Stewart, brought food, water and other support to those camped out on the Senate steps.

The PACT Act will expand health care and benefits to post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits used in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere to incinerate trash and other environmental hazards, such as volatile organic compounds, depleted uranium and petrochemicals.

The bill designates 23 diseases as presumed to be linked to military service, paving the way for veterans to receive expedited health services and disability compensation without having to provide proof that their illness was service-related.

The bill also contains provisions for veterans who served in previous conflicts. It would expand benefits for Vietnam-era veterans who have developed hypertension as a result of Agent Orange exposure; would allow veterans and family members sickened by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to file lawsuits; and expand coverage for veterans exposed to radiation during hazardous cleanups in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost of the bill to be more than $278 billion over the next 10 years.