[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 196 (Friday, December 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  0915
                HELP VETERANS EXPOSED TO TOXIC BURN PITS

  (Mr. RUIZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, Congress must act to help our veterans exposed 
to burn pits and must act now. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the military 
used burn pits to get rid of huge piles of trash, exposing our men and 
women in uniform to toxic chemicals and carcinogens in the air and 
soil--veterans like my constituent and my friend Jennifer Kepner, a 
mother who died from pancreatic cancer in October 2017.
  That is why I urge a vote on H.R. 1279, the Helping Veterans Exposed 
to Burn Pits Act that I support and cosponsor. This bipartisan bill 
will create a center of excellence within the VA that will help 
diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate veterans who were exposed. Veterans 
will be served by staff with specialty expertise needed to address the 
kinds of health conditions those exposed now suffer.
  This bill also directs the VA and DOD to establish a program to train 
their health providers to treat veterans exposed and to study the long-
term effects of exposure. So I urge all of my colleagues to support 
this critical bill and bring it to a vote immediately to help save our 
veterans lives.

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