[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 96 (Monday, June 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2777-S2778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Act

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, it is an honor to be here on the Senate 
floor tonight to talk about a topic, and it is an honor to have you in 
the Chair as I do so.
  I rise late this afternoon to discuss a piece of legislation that 
will be before the Senate perhaps for a good portion of this week and 
maybe even into the next. It is the most comprehensive toxic exposure 
package the Senate has ever considered in our Nation's history.
  Since September 11, 2001, up to 3.5 million deployed servicemembers 
have potentially encountered toxic exposures from burn pits. During a 
deployment to a war zone, military personnel are often exposed to toxic 
hazards, many of which have been associated with chronic health issues.
  Not really as an aside but unrelated to this piece of legislation, a 
cause I now undertake and have been pursuing since this topic arose is 
to make sure that in the future, there are no burn pits that our 
service men and women encounter in their service to our Nation. While 
we are preparing to take care of those who have experienced burn pits 
in the past, let there be no more burn pit experiences.
  Until almost 2010, the U.S. military kept burn pits on bases for the 
disposal of chemicals, plastics, medical waste, and other substances 
that were just burned with jet fuel, creating toxic substances, toxic 
smoke.
  Currently, the VA can provide service-connected disability claims 
related to burn pit exposures; however, due to lack of evidence, 
scientific data, and information from the Department of Defense, at 
least 70 percent of the claims are denied.

  Over the past 2 years, nearly every veterans service organization has 
testified before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and 
emphasized the importance of fixing the process the VA uses to provide 
healthcare and benefits to toxic-exposed veterans. Jon Tester, the 
Senator from Montana, the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, and I have worked in a bipartisan fashion with these 
veterans organizations, with veterans, with advocates, with the VA, and 
with our Senate colleagues on and off of the committee to craft a 
comprehensive bill to deliver all generations of toxic-exposed veterans 
long-overdue healthcare and benefits.
  Three weeks ago, Senator Tester and I announced the Sergeant First 
Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive 
Toxics Act of 2022. It has many priorities, but among those, this 
historic legislation will, one, expand VA healthcare eligibility; two, 
improve the VA's presumption process; three, bolster the VA's toxic 
exposure training and resources; four, strengthen toxic exposure 
research; and five, set up VA and veterans for success.
  Last week over Memorial Day, our country paused to remember and honor 
those who served our Nation. My expectation--my guess is that almost 
every Member of the U.S. Senate in some fashion over the weekend spent 
time with veterans, paying respect, giving them honor.
  One Kansas veteran, when I was in Wichita, told me that he and his 
dad

[[Page S2778]]

both served in the U.S. Navy and that both had an experience with 
exposure to hazardous and toxic materials. He said he didn't believe 
that either one of them suffered any major health issues from their 
exposure. It caused me to think that this is a veteran who is not 
necessarily going to care about this legislation, but what he said was 
that it was a concern that there would not be any help from the VA if 
they did, and they lived in fear and uncertainty.
  The veteran who didn't think he or she had any negative consequences 
from exposure to toxic substances still worried about ``What would 
happen if I did? What would happen if my health deteriorates'' and 
worried that the VA would not be there for them or their families.
  After hearing the news of our comprehensive toxic exposure bill, this 
veteran said:

       You have now changed that for thousands of veterans and 
     their families.

  The uncertainty, the fear is diminished and maybe gone.
  It is time to advance this legislation and bring us one step closer 
to connecting all generations of toxic-exposed veterans with the care 
they need and deserve and to provide veterans with certainty and 
support.
  I honor, I thank, I have great gratitude for every generation of 
veterans, and in my family's lifetime, those who served in Iraq and 
Afghanistan are among the most significant to us. But Vietnam is a part 
of my life as a 16-year-old boy, a junior in high school. In fact, if 
you were a senior in my high school--my high school of 71 kids in my 
class, so I know them all--if you were just a year older than me, you 
served in Vietnam. And I saw how they were treated when they returned 
from their service, and they were treated terribly by fellow American 
citizens.
  As a 16-year-old kid, I told myself, I am going to do everything I 
can to honor and respect those who serve, see if I can compensate for 
the circumstances these people--many of whom I knew personally--can I 
compensate for what they are experiencing today in the early 1970s and 
the midseventies?
  I never expected to be a Member of the U.S. Senate. Nothing in my 
life would suggest that that would be the case--the grace of God, the 
kindness of Kansans. But upon my arrival in Congress, in the House and 
now the Senate, it became important for me to do something more than 
just honor and respect veterans, to do something more than saying 
``thank you,'' to do the things that I can do as a Member of a 
legislative body to make certain that the Department of Veterans 
Affairs does its job but most importantly, that I as a Member of 
Congress do mine.
  It is important for us to pay respect, but it is also perhaps even 
more important for us to make certain those who serve our Nation 
receive the care and benefits that they are entitled to and that they 
deserve. It is beyond just saying ``thank you''; it is saying ``thank 
you'' by action.
  It is time to advance this legislation and bring us one step closer 
to connecting all generations to the circumstances that war brought to 
them and their families. And I hope that after Memorial Day, we brought 
back with us as we return this Monday--Memorial Day being a week ago 
today--that we brought back with us a sense of what their sacrifice 
means and commit to living our lives and doing our jobs worthy of their 
sacrifice.
  Decade after decade, service men and women have deployed to countries 
around the globe in defense of freedom, and we have seen just within 
the last year that there is no moment in which everyone is safe. There 
is no moment in which we may not have to ask people to continue to 
serve, to serve longer, or to begin their service in defense of freedom 
in the United States and freedom around the world.
  Unfortunately, throughout history, many of them were exposed to 
harmful toxins during that service that resulted in life-altering 
health conditions.
  Too many veterans--far too many veterans--face too many battles when 
they return home and are seeking the care and benefits they desperately 
need. Our veterans deserve better, and they are tired of waiting for 
solutions.
  This week, this body--the U.S. Senate--will discuss the Sergeant 
First Class Heath Robinson Act at great length, and I look forward to 
speaking more about this historic legislation on the Senate floor and 
with my colleagues so that we can deliver to all generations of toxic-
exposed veterans the relief, the assistance, and maybe, yes, just the 
lack of fear, the lack of uncertainty that they deserve.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I want to concur in the remarks just 
expressed by my colleague, and we do honor our veterans. And Senator 
Moran serves as our ranking member at the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, and we appreciate his leadership, as we all seek to honor that 
service and to fulfill the obligation that this great Nation has made 
to our veterans who don't shrink from service, who don't pass the 
blame. They get up every day and they execute on their mission, and I 
think it is important for each and every one of us to remember that our 
service should do honor to the service and the sacrifice that they have 
made.