[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                END THE USE OF TOXIC MILITARY BURN PITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Ruiz) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address one of the most 
pressing health threats facing veterans across this Nation: exposure to 
burn pits.
  Burn pits are literal pits, sometimes 10 acres large, used by the 
military to burn trash, medical waste, jet fuel, batteries, even human 
waste. As you might imagine, this creates large plumes of toxic black 
smoke, which can have terrible health effects for anyone exposed.
  Our servicemembers and veterans who were exposed to burn pits are 
developing severe, debilitating pulmonary diseases like pulmonary 
fibrosis and constricted bronchiolitis, leaving them oxygen dependent. 
And young veterans are dying from rare cancers of the brain, pancreas, 
blood cells, and other organs.
  This means that many of our servicemembers survived the battlefield 
but only become delayed casualties of war at home, dying due to lung 
and pulmonary illnesses, from cancers, from autoimmune diseases from 
their burn pit exposures.
  If we don't act now, they will be resigned to the same fate as our 
Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, who waited up to 30 years to 
get the help they needed. For many, it was too late.
  Our veterans cannot wait. It is my objective to end the use of toxic 
military burn pits once and for all and give servicemembers and 
veterans the care they need. That is why, today, I urge a vote on two 
bills that would go a long way to address this critically important 
issue:
  H.R. 4574, the Veterans' Right to Breathe Act, which would establish 
presumption of service-connected exposure to burn pits for nine 
evidence-based pulmonary diseases, including chronic bronchiolitis and 
others; and
  H.R. 4137, the Jennifer Kepner HOPE Act, which would make veterans 
exposed to burn pits eligible for low-cost healthcare through the 
Priority Group 6 under the Veterans Health Administration.

                              {time}  1015

  These bills are part of the comprehensive plan to end the use of burn 
pits, educate physicians and veterans on their health effects, get 
veterans and servicemembers exposed to burn pits the healthcare and 
benefits they need, and continue research to fully understand the 
health impacts posed by burn pits.
  We cannot let burn pit exposure become this generation's Agent 
Orange. We must act now for veterans and for their families.


                       CBP Directive Falls Short

  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because children and families in 
CBP custody continue to be without basic humanitarian standards of 
care.
  Late last year, Customs and Border Protection put out a directive 
outlining its ``enhanced medical support efforts,'' with the objective 
of mitigating risks for people in CPB custody along the southwest 
border. But their directive for addressing medical needs falls short of 
even basic humane treatment to prevent the heartbreaking conditions I 
saw when I visited the southern border: people piled on top of each 
other in cold, windowless, concrete rooms, crowded with so many bodies 
you couldn't even see the floor; open toilets in crowded cells; and 
visibly sick children coughing on one another.
  The conditions I witnessed were inhumane and inconsistent with our 
American values and our moral conscience, and the CBP directive does 
nothing to address them.
  The directive does not include, for example, pregnant women, the 
elderly, or disabled individuals as vulnerable populations who need 
priority screening. The CBP medical directive does not address 
humanitarian standards for water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, or food 
and nutrition, nor does it even set standards for private, safe, clean, 
and reliable toilets with proper waste disposal.
  Last year, I wrote the House-passed H.R. 3239, the Humanitarian 
Standards for Individuals in CBP Custody Act. This bill sets basic 
public health standards for people in CBP's care, such as health 
screening priorities, nutrition, food standards, water, sanitation, 
hygiene, and reporting requirements. It makes sure individuals have 
essentials, such as toothbrushes, diapers, and baby formula.
  Because this bipartisan bill was blocked from consideration in the 
Senate, these standards of care for children and families are not 
currently law, and the recent CBP medical directive falls short. It 
fails to outline proper humanitarian standards of care.
  This is why the Senate must take up and pass the bipartisan bill, the 
Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in CBP Custody Act, to ensure 
CBP's treatment of children and families is consistent with our 
American values and the principles of basic human dignity and prevent 
children from dying under the custody and responsibility of CBP.

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