Should the VA Formally Research the Effect of Burn Pits on Veterans' Health? (H.R. 663)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is H.R. 663?
(Updated March 3, 2019)
This bill — the Burn Pits Accountability Act — would study servicemembers’ exposure to open burn pits and toxic airborne chemicals while on active duty. This would begin the process of understanding, assessing, and treating these service-related ailments.
Specifically, this bill would require the Secretary of Defense to record whether servicemembers have been based or stationed in locations where open burn pits were used, or exposed to toxic chemicals in: Periodic Health Assessment (PHAs), Separation History and Physical Examination (SHPEs), and Post-Deployment Health Assessment (PDHAs). These records would include any information recorded as part of the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. Any servicemember who meets the previously described criteria would be enrolled in the Airborne Hazards and Open Pit Burn Registry unless they opt out.
The Secretary of Defense and the VA Secretary would be required to share information relating to pit burn and toxic airborne chemical exposure recorded in PHAs, SHPEs, and PDHAs.
Argument in favor
Veterans and servicemembers who’ve been exposed to burn pits experience a range of elevated health risks. While the VA has a voluntary registry, the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, to track these individuals, there’s no systematic data collection effort to track this veterans’ health issue and ensure proper follow-up by the VA — which this bill would put in please.
Argument opposed
The VA’s Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry — which has over 165,000 registrants — is sufficient as a means of gathering information about veterans and servicemembers who’ve been exposed to burn pits. Rather than having these records in a second place, it’d make more sense to better publicize the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry and ensure that eligible veterans register themselves on it.
Impact
Veterans; servicemembers; Iraq veterans; Afghanistan veterans; the VA; the Secretary of Defense; and the VA Secretary.
Cost of H.R. 663
A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.
Additional Info
In-Depth: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress to evaluate U.S. servicemembers’ and veterans’ exposure to open burn pits and toxic airborne chemicals:
“Whether serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, our post-9/11 veterans were exposed to open-air burn pits, often for many hours a day. Some veterans who I deployed with are now falling sick with cancer and other illnesses. But, there is no research and data about exposure to burn pits and other toxic chemicals, and how they have impacted the health and well-being of our servicemembers and their families. Our bipartisan legislation will evaluate exposure to burn pits and other hazardous airborne chemicals to ensure our servicemembers and veterans receive the treatment and services they earned and deserve.”
In floor remarks when reintroducing this bill in the current Congress, Rep. Gabbard added:
“Burn pits are the Agent Orange of post 9/11 veterans. Over 165,000 veterans have registered their names in the Burn Pit Registry, something that’s voluntary, but there are millions of our troops who have been exposed to these toxic burn pits during their deployment. They deserve recognition. They deserve care, and they deserve the services they have earned. So far, our government has failed to fulfill its responsibility to them, and to recognize the toxins they have been exposed to -- just like what happened to our Vietnam veterans decades ago when our government ignored their exposure and the ensuing illnesses that came from Agent Orange. When I was deployed to Iraq, the cloud of toxic smoke and fumes from the massive burn pit in our camp was a daily reality. I know the damage they cause. I've seen the devastating toll that's taken on my brothers and sisters in arms who survived combat and came home, but are now suffering from rare cancers, lung diseases, neurological disorders and more. [This bill ensures that veterans] get the services they have earned.”
Original cosponsor Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), an Afghanistan veteran, adds:
“When I was serving in Afghanistan, trash and human waste were often burned in open air pits. I think it’s quickly becoming clear that these burn pits are emerging as the Agent Orange of my generation. Service members that were exposed in Iraq and Afghanistan are seeing terrible health effects at a very young age. These men and women risked their lives for our country, and this bipartisan legislation will go a long way toward getting them the care they have earned.”
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) supports this bill. Its Founder and CEO, Paul Rieckhoff, says:
“We applaud the strong leadership of our fellow Post-9/11 veterans in Congress. They have stepped forward in a united, bi-partisan effort to put veterans first. Representative Gabbard and Representative Mast have both lived our wars themselves--and are the perfect leaders to drive forward this change. Just as they did on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, Reps. Gabbard and Mast are now leading for their fellow troops in Congress. Their unity, bi-partisanship and patriotism are an inspiration and an example for all members of Congress--and all Americans. IAVA members nationwide are standing by and look forward to working tirelessly alongside them to get this done.”
The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) supports this bill. Its President and CEO, Laurie Fenton Ambrose, writes:
“We support [the Burn Pits Accountability Act] as a first step of ensuring that all those effected by burn pit toxins are accounted for and benefit from actions designed to address associated health issues. LCA also recommends that intensified research to monitor and identify the health consequences of these exposures be taken along with the utilization of effective tools to identify the deadliest and most serious diseases early with effective treatments to save the lives and improve the health of our veterans. Lung cancer is an urgent priority among veterans. Numerous studies over the years published by the Institute of Medicine, Cancer, Military Medicine, Chest and others have shown that lung cancer incidence and mortality rates are an estimated 25% – 30% higher in the military than in civilian populations. Of growing concern is the lung cancer risk among ground troops deployed during the Gulf Wars whose exposures included asbestos, chromium, diesel exhaust, radon, crystalline silica, pesticides, pollutants and particulate matter from burn pits, oil well fires and the destruction of chemical weapons including sarin gas… Lung cancer has a disproportionate impact on veterans, especially those exposed to carcinogens during active duty service. Screening before symptoms become evident is the only proven method to detect lung cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage. LCA appreciates the efforts to set up registries to see if a causal relationship exists between burn pits exposures and current or future health problems so that those exposed could voluntarily be evaluated and be tracked for health problems now or down the road.”
This bill has 103 bipartisan cosponsors, including 67 Democrats and 36 Republicans, in the current session of Congress. Last Congress, it had the support of 147 bipartisan cosponsors, including 88 Democrats and 59 Republicans, and didn’t receive a committee vote.
It has the support of the Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA); IAVA; United States Army Warrant Officers Association; Chief Warrant & Warrant Officers Association, USCG; Bladder Cancer Awareness Network; the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA); the Marine Corps League; American Veterans (AMVETS); Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS); the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW); and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States.
Of Note: Burn pits are a disposal method used for waste generated by military bases and personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are huge, open-air or shallow pits filled with all a military base’s trash, including electronics, weapons, munitions, biological waste from combat and medical care, plastics, human waste, and rubber tires — and jet fuel is often used as their accelerant. In recent years, they’ve come under scrutiny for their deleterious effects on both human health and the environment. In 2016, the Dept. of Defense (DOD) estimated that 30-40 tons of solid waste were burned in burn pits at large basis on a daily basis. Defense officials have estimated that there have been 63 burn pits in Iraq and 197 in Afghanistan.
Over the past 30 years, over 140,000 servicemembers and veterans have reported exposure to burn pits and toxic airborne chemicals. This can lead to serious, potentially life-threatening health effects, including neurological disorders, rare cancers, lung diseases, and more — which has led some to call this the “Agent Orange” of the post-9/11 generation.
A June 2015 VA report found that 25 percent of soldiers who were exposed to burn pits as part of their work reported diagnoses of one or more serious respiratory problems, compared to 17 percent of soldiers not directly exposed to burn pits. Additionally, 37 percent of those who worked with burn pits reported high blood pressure, compared to 28 percent in general service.
Congress dropped burn pit research from its list of DOD peer-reviewed medical programs in 2016, making it harder to get evidence of burn pits’ harmful effects. Currently, veterans seeking disability for service-related medical problems must go through a lengthy process, and claims are handled on individual bases — leading to a backlog of several hundred thousand VA claims.
The VA has an Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, which allows eligible veterans and servicemembers to document their exposures and report health concerns through an online questionnaire. Eligible veterans and servicemembers include those who served in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn; Djibouti, Africa on or after September 11, 2001; Operations Desert Shield or Desert Storm; or the Southwest Asia theater of operations on or after August 2, 1990. In total, 165,877 veterans and servicemembers have completed and submitted the registry questionnaire between April 25, 2014 and January 7, 2019 (the most up-to-date data). However, advocates believe that the real number of veterans and servicemembers affected by burn pits is much higher than the number currently on the registry, as nearly every individual who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s had some exposure to burn pits.
However, there’s no research or mandatory tracking system in place to ensure that veterans who were exposed to burn pits are tracked to keep an eye on their health and ensure proper follow-up by the VA. Additionally, due to the lack of mandatory tracking, there’s no accurate count of the number of veterans and servicemembers affected by burn pits.
In January 2019, the Supreme Court ruled against a group of U.S. veterans sickened by smoke from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan who were suing defense contractors KBR and Halliburton. The Court left a 2018 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in place: in that ruling, the court ruled that the various consolidated lawsuits brought by servicemembers and their relatives amounted to a “political question” that Congress and the president, not the courts, should resolve.
Media:
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Sponsoring Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Press Release
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Sponsoring Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Floor Remarks
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Lung Cancer Alliance Letter (In Favor)
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Military Times
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Huffington Post (Context)
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VA Report (Context)
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VA Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry (Context)
Summary by Lorelei Yang
(Photo Credit: Terryfic3D)
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