[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 127 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H3099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BANNING 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, in 2017, my constituent, Jennifer Kepner, 
passed away due to pancreatic cancer connected to her exposure to burn 
pits during her military service in Balad, Iraq.
  In her honor and the countless veterans who are sick, permanently 
disabled, or who have died from illnesses due to exposure to burn pits, 
I introduced an amendment to the NDAA to prohibit Federal funding for 
the military use of toxic burn pits.
  My amendment was not included, but it is imperative to acknowledge 
the serious health risks that open-air burn pits have on our troops, 
yet our military still uses them to dispose of waste on the 
battlefield.
  The EPA's website has a brochure discouraging burning household 
trash, because burning waste releases dioxin and other pollutants to 
the air and at the ground level, where they are most readily inhaled. 
In addition, many counties across the Nation have banned open-air trash 
burning because of air pollutants that pose a risk to our health.
  If we can't burn trash here at home because of the health effects, 
why do we keep exposing our servicemembers to dioxin and other toxins 
and carcinogens that are released by burn pits?
  We must address reducing the use of burn pits in our military.

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