Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Takano and his staff for all their work on this. They have done a great job. I thank them for fighting for this bill and for their tireless work in support of our veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank the ranking member, Dr. Phil Roe, for his support of veterans who have been exposed to burn pits, and a special shout-out to my good friend Congressman Dr. Brad Wenstrup, who is the colead on this bill. We have worked together on this and numerous bills, and we are also leading the efforts in the bipartisan Burn Pits Caucus to really give answers to our veterans who have been exposed.

My bill, the Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act, will help our government better understand the health effects of toxic burn pits on our men and women in uniform.

As a nation, we have a responsibility to provide our veterans with the benefits that they have earned and deserve and to keep them safe to the best of our ability when they are in the field.

We bear that responsibility even more heavily when the actions of our own government--in this case, its use of toxic burn pits--are causing veterans to develop severe pulmonary illnesses, cancers, autoimmune diseases, and chronic conditions that are making young, otherwise very healthy veterans, extremely ill, permanently oxygen-dependent, and totally disabled--and, in some cases, leading to their death.

This is what happened to Jennifer Kepner, a constituent of mine, a mother of two young children, and a veteran of the United States Air Force. Despite being only 39 years of age, living an active lifestyle, very healthy, not having any other risk factors, Jennifer developed a very aggressive pancreatic cancer that ultimately took her life.

Jennifer's oncologist conducted an extensive genetic and environmental risk assessment and found that the only probable and most probable cause of her cancer was her exposure to burn pits. These are acres, sometimes 10 acres big, of open burn pits where they burn everything and anything, like that garbage open burn pit with jet fuel, that exposes our servicemembers to hundreds of toxic chemicals and carcinogens, with huge clouds of black smoke that traverse long distances.

So while Jennifer was fighting bravely against her cancer, she also had to fight tooth and nail to get the healthcare and benefits that she had earned. Even then, the VA did not recognize her cancer's connection to burn pit exposures.

I was there in her final days, and she wanted us to do something. She called it our generation's Agent Orange. She wanted us to do something to prevent this and to help other veterans.

There is a principle I use as a doctor and a public health expert, and that is, when there is a high enough suspicion of an agent that can cause a severe enough health consequence, then we have to act on that suspicion. In this case, we do have enough suspicion, given the information that is out there, that burn pits are essentially toxic and causing health problems and even death, so it is definitely severe enough.

We need to do something. There are four prongs that we need to pursue, four pillars of a framework.

One is stop the use of burn pits.

Two is outreach to veterans and providers to educate them about their risks.

Three is to make sure that we take care of our veterans by providing healthcare and some of the benefits that they have earned.

Also, do more research so that we can fully understand the full health effects of being exposed to these burn pits.

This bill and the burn pit registry will help with two of those prongs. One is that it is a vehicle for the VA, DOD, and our government to communicate with veterans who have been exposed to burn pits, and their family members, about any recent health topics, research, or policy change that they may be interested in.

It also helps them grab samples of veterans for future research so that we can better understand with more robust scientific research the full effects of burn pits in their lives, which could lead to a better understanding, better healthcare, better outreach, and more benefits for our permanently disabled veterans.

It is very important that veterans who have been exposed to burn pits register in the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry and build this communication vehicle with the VA, our government, and those of us who are strong advocates for our veterans.

My bill will allow an entry with the cause of death in the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry after a veteran passes away. For example, right now, if a veteran passes away, there is no way to update this burn pit registry with their cause of death. This allows a spouse or a designee to enter that cause of death.

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, those causes of death could be brain cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, autoimmune diseases, lymphomas, leukemias, constricted bronchiolitis, COPD, and others.

Mr. Speaker, I urge each Member of this Chamber to support this bipartisan bill, which will help our Nation uphold its commitment to serving our veterans. Together, we are taking a crucial first step toward honoring Jennifer Kepner and improving and saving the lives of countless veterans. I thank the chairman for his support.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee.

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