It started with Jerry Ensminger and Mike Partain, carrying their stories into every room until others finally joined the fight.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act didn’t just appear on paper one day — it was fought for, prayed for, and pushed into law by people who refused to be ignored.

For years, politicians told us no. Courts shut doors. Bills got introduced, only to stall. There were moments when the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) was nearly discarded. But with the persistence of attorney Ed Bell, the voices of survivors like Jerry Ensminger, Mike Partain, Brian Amburgey, and the power of our community, that door finally opened.

Jerry Ensminger’s fight began with his daughter, Janey. She was the only one of his children conceived, carried, and born at Camp Lejeune. At age six, she was diagnosed with leukemia. There was no family history of the illness. In 1985, Janey passed away at just nine years old.

For years, Jerry carried questions. Then, in 1997, while watching the evening news, he saw a report about water contamination at Camp Lejeune and its link to childhood cancers and birth defects. That was the moment the penny dropped. Jerry realized his daughter’s death wasn’t random — it was preventable. From that day, he became the relentless voice and face of this fight, testifying to Congress, meeting with lawmakers, and refusing to let the government bury the truth.

Born on base at Camp Lejeune in 1968, Mike Partain grew up never knowing the silent danger he had been exposed to. Decades later, he was diagnosed with male breast cancer — a disease so rare in men that it shocked the medical community. Instead of staying quiet, Mike joined forces with Jerry, becoming a powerful advocate for the children of Lejeune. His testimony and persistence made it impossible for Congress to look away.

In 2007, attorney Ed Bell took on his first Camp Lejeune client. Among them were survivors like Jerry and Mike, who wanted their day in court.

But the law shut them out. The judge ruled it was too late under North Carolina’s statute of repose, and reminded them: you cannot sue the government without its consent.

That’s where most lawyers stopped. Many had already walked away, deciding it wasn’t worth the fight. To us widows watching from the outside, it felt like the case was dead in the water. But Ed didn’t quit. He asked the question no one else was asking: Then how do they ever get justice?

The answer: You’ll need a bill passed by Congress.

So while others turned back, Ed Bell went to work alone. He began drafting what would become the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, carrying it forward year after year. It wasn’t until the bill finally passed that other attorneys jumped in. But by then, Ed had already carried the weight nearly alone — holding the line for widows, veterans, and families who deserved their day in court.

Brian Amburgey, a Marine trained at Camp Lejeune in 1984, has spent nearly a decade advocating for veterans and families. Despite his own health battles, he has continued to organize, gather signatures, push for medical registries, and warn veterans and widows about misleading settlement scams. Brian’s steady voice reminds us that the fight isn’t over — and that we must stay vigilant.

The CLJA wasn’t welcomed with open arms. It was introduced more than once before 2021, and each time faced fierce opposition. Some lawmakers wanted to weaken it. Others wanted to throw it away.

It was only when we — widows, survivors, veterans — filled phone lines, wrote letters, and shared our stories with the media that Washington paid attention. Under that pressure, lawmakers folded the CLJA into the broader PACT Act. That move carried it across the finish line.

On August 10, 2022, the PACT Act was signed into law. Inside it was the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. For the first time, families who lived, served, or worked at Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 finally had the right to bring their cases to court.

This victory wasn’t handed to us. It was earned — by Jerry’s decades of persistence, by Mike’s willingness to share his rare diagnosis, by Ed’s refusal to walk away when every other lawyer did, by Brian’s steady advocacy, and by every widow, veteran, and family member who picked up the phone or shared their story.

We share this story so widows know they are not alone, and so every survivor remembers: your voice matters. Politicians do listen — but only when we raise our voices together.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is proof. If we want new bills like the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act to pass, we have to do the same thing again.

We’ve made incredible progress — 62 members of Congress have already co-sponsored our bill. That shows strong support, but co-sponsorship alone won’t get it passed. Right now, the bill is stuck in the House Judiciary Committee. Unless members of that committee agree to move it forward, it will never reach the full House for a vote.

That’s where we come in. Our voices matter. Every widow, every survivor, every family member has the power to make Congress act — but only if we speak up.

📞 If your Representative is on the Judiciary Committee: call, email, or write them today. Tell them why this bill matters to you and urge them to support bringing it out of committee.

✉️ If your Representative is not on the committee: you can still reach out. Ask them to use their influence to push committee members and leadership to act.

Even if your Representative is already a co-sponsor, don’t stop contacting them. What matters now is pressure — pressure on the Judiciary Committee to take action and pressure on leadership to schedule a vote.

Every single call, email, and letter counts. Together, we’ve come this far. Now let’s finish what we started and push this bill out of committee and onto the House floor.