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ICYMI: Ruiz’s Bipartisan, Bicameral Burn Pits Bill Receives Legislative Hearing in the House

May 7, 2021

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee met this week to discuss the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a legislative hearing on Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D.'s (D-CA) comprehensive burn pits legislation, H.R. 2372, the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act. The bill, which Dr. Ruiz introduced alongside Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), would streamline the process for obtaining VA benefits for burn pit and other toxic exposures.

"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive legislative initiative aimed at tackling the immediate health care crisis that too many of our veterans are facing," Dr. Ruiz said in support of his bill. "The time to act is now. Our veterans are sick and dying right now from respiratory illnesses, cancers, and autoimmune diseases caused by their exposure to burn pits."

Under current law, a veteran who has an illness or disability must establish a direct service connection in order to be eligible for VA benefits.Veterans exposed to burn pits face a cumbersome "burden of proof" to provide enough evidence to establish a direct service

connection between their health and burn pit exposure. Dr. Ruiz's bill would remove this burden of proof from the veteran so that veterans who have been exposed to burn pits can more readily access the benefits and care they need.

In the hearing, Dr. Ruiz put pressure on officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to support a presumption of service connection for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances during their military service.

"We cannot simply pay lip service to our war heroes and thank them for their service," Dr. Ruiz said. "We owe them the health care and benefits that they earned when we sent them to war for our country. Anything less than presumption of service connection for toxic exposure is not acceptable."

In addition to Dr. Ruiz's bill, the hearing covered several other bills to address toxic exposure and included testimony from Committee members, Veterans Service Organization leaders, and Department of Veterans Affairs officials.

You can watch Dr. Ruiz's remarks from the hearing here.

Background:

During military operations in the Global War on Terror and the Gulf War, the military employed open-air burn pits in order to burn garbage, medical waste, plastics, and other waste from military installations. At least 230 pits were utilized in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many others were used across the world. The largest of these burn pits was located at Balad Air Base, Iraq, and during its operation, was comprised of 10-acres of burning trash, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.

It has long been established that burning waste and garbage has significant negative impacts on the environment and human health--which is why using burn pits on American soil is against the law and exposure to other toxic substances is highly regulated. However, the military exposed millions of our men and women in uniform to carcinogenic toxic fumes released by burn pits that were used throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. It is estimated that more than 3.5 million military personnel could have been exposed to burn pits, and the VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry website shows that nearly 235,000 veterans and service members have completed and submitted a questionnaire to self-report medical information about burn pit exposure.

Veterans are now sick and dying from lung diseases, cancers, and respiratory illnesses after living among this toxic cocktail of dust, smoke, and debris while serving our country overseas.

For veterans exposed to burn pits, this means they would need to provide medical evidence of a current disease or disability; provide personal or other evidence of in-service physical presence near a specific burn pit or exposure to specific toxins or substance; and provide evidence of a link between the disability or illness and exposure. Upon completion of these steps, the VA determines if there is enough evidence to provide a medical exam and continue with the disability compensation claim. Therefore, it is currently the veteran's responsibility to prove their illness or disability is directly connected to burn pit exposure.

The Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act would remove the cumbersome – and in many cases impossible – "burden of proof" from the veteran to provide enough evidence to establish a direct service connection between their health condition and burn pit exposure. Rather, the veteran would only need to submit documentation that they received a campaign medal associated with the Global War on Terror or the Gulf War and that they suffer from a qualifying health condition. Campaign medals are awarded to members of the armed forces who deploy for military operations in a designated combat zone or geographical theater.

Presumptive conditions include a wide range of cancers and respiratory illnesses, including: asthma that was diagnosed after service, head cancer, neck cancer, respiratory cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, reproductive cancer, lymphoma cancer, lymphatic cancer, kidney cancer, brain cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis.

Last month, Dr. Ruiz joined veteran advocate Jon Stewart, Representative Fitzpatrick, Senators Gillibrand and Marco Rubio (R-FL), 9/11 activist John Feal, and other veterans' advocates in announcing their bill at a press conference held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The following organizations have endorsed Dr. Ruiz's bill: Burn Pits 360, IAVA, The American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wounded Warrior Project, Reserve Officers Association, Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, Dixon Center, National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), Military Order of the Purple Heart, Military Veterans Advocacy, Veterans for Common Sense, Sgt. Sullivan Circle, Vote Vets, Stronghold Freedom Foundation, Grunt Style, Cease Fire Campaign, Veteran Warriors Inc., Green Beret Foundation, National Association County Veterans Service Officers, Feal Good Foundation, Blinded Veterans Association, American Federation of Government Employees, Alliance for Headache Advocacy, National Association of Counties (NACo), VetsFirst, and Fleet Reserve Association.

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Issues:Veterans