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House Passes Ruiz’s Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen Burn Pit Registry

November 17, 2021

Legislation to improve reporting of burn pits-related deaths, advance crucial medical research

Washington, D.C. – This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2433, the Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) and co-led by Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup (OH-02) to improve the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. The VA uses entries from the registry to assess the negative health effects of toxic burn pit exposure. Ruiz's legislation, which passed the House unanimously, would strengthen the registry by allowing a designated individual or an immediate family member to update a registered veteran's entry with the cause of death. This will help the registry produce more comprehensive and inclusive data, including the ability to track mortality rates.

Today, Ruiz took to the House floor to call for the Senate to take up this much-needed legislation.

"The Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act would strengthen the registry by allowing a registered veteran's data to be updated by their family with his or her cause of death," said Dr. Ruiz, Co-Chair of the Burn Pits Caucus. "This data is crucial to identify the vast array of illnesses that are causing young burn pit-exposed veterans to die and will help doctors recognize early symptoms of life-threatening conditions and save lives. I urge the Senate to take up my legislation and uphold our commitment to taking care of our veterans."

"Having served a tour of duty in the Iraq War, I am personally familiar with the use of burn pits in theater and understand the potential harm burn pits can inflict on servicemembers, even years after exposure," said Congressman Brad Wenstrup, Co-Chair of the Burn Pits Caucus. "The bipartisan Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act would ensure the VA has more accurate records for veterans exposed to burn pits, so we can better serve those with service-related illnesses. I'm grateful to my colleague Rep. Ruiz for his leadership on this critical issue."

BACKGROUND

In 2013, the VA created the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry to strengthen data-collection and tracking of veterans exposed to burn pits and their health conditions. However, the registry does not track cause of death for registered veterans, which is important to the examination of short and long-term health effects of exposure to toxic burn pits.

In 2017, the National Academies of Sciences conducted an assessment on the Burn Pit Registry and found that it was unable to provide mortality data because it does not track the cause of death.

The Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act would ensure that the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry can be updated with the cause of death of a registered veteran by an immediate family member or someone designated by the veteran prior to his or her death.

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Issues:Veterans