Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Chair, since 9/11, an estimated 3.7 million veterans and servicemembers may have been exposed to burn pits, a common method of disposing of waste during war.

Now, these burn pits include things like human waste, batteries, plastic, damaged equipment all being dumped into a giant pit, doused with jet fuel, and torched.

Much of the waste burned in these pits is toxic and it gets into our troops' eyes, mouth, throat, and lungs. I know this is true, because I was there and I breathed these toxins in every day.

These burn pits aren't put somewhere very far away from where our troops spend their time. They are usually right next to where they live, work, eat, and sleep. Many burn day and night, some burning around the clock, 7 days a week.

Exposure to burn pits can produce serious and potentially life- threatening health effects, including neurological disorders, rare forms of cancer, lung diseases, and more.

Recently, a widow named Jill Wilkins reached out to my office to share her story.

She told me about her husband, United States Air Force Reserves Major Kevin Wilkins, who was an RN and who deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2006.

After prolonged exposure to the toxic chemicals from burn pits, when he came home, he died from a brain tumor in April of 2008. He was only 51 years old, leaving behind his wife, Jill, to take care of their two children by herself.

Now, despite the millions of brave young men and women who have been exposed to burn pits, people like Major Wilkins, they are continuing to be denied their claims and healthcare through the VA.

The DOD and VA have been hesitant to admit that there is sufficient data to quantify this link and to prove the connection between service- related burn pits exposure and the resulting illnesses that some of our troops and veterans are dying from.

What is most troubling about this is that these burn pits are still being used today.

We cannot continue to repeat the dark stains of our past that we have seen in abandoning our Vietnam veterans who have suffered illnesses due to their exposure to Agent Orange.

Even now, I and many other Members of Congress continue to hear from Vietnam veterans about their battles with the VA to get the benefits and care they need after their exposure to Agent Orange.

Burn pits are the Agent Orange of our generation of veterans. We cannot let this generation go ignored, without the care and services they desperately need.

Our troops didn't hesitate to raise their hands and volunteer to serve this country and put their lives on the line. We cannot turn our backs on them when they return home.

Passing this amendment authorizes $1 million in burn pits research, which takes an important step towards fulfilling our Nation's promise to take care of our veterans. We have seen some DOD- and VA-funded studies, but we need to do more to get to the point where the VA does the right thing.

We need to pass the Burn Pits Accountability Act that I have introduced with my friend and post-9/11 veteran, Congressman Brian Mast.

We know that there is a correlation between burn pit exposures and these illnesses. This amendment takes a small step toward continuing the research, and serves as a shining light to our post-9/11 veterans that they are not alone and that they have not been forgotten. It builds on this progress to ensure that every servicemember and veteran who was exposed to burn pits gets the care and services that they have earned and deserve.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for their attention in raising this important issue and in allowing these amendments to come to the floor.

Our veterans care very much to see that Congress is taking action in the absence of leadership, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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