Wednesday, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on proposed legislation. One proposal is a Burn Pit Registry. Senator Mark Udall (pictured above) championed that bill and we'll include those remarks as well as Committee Chair Patty Murray's remarks and Senator Bill Nelson's remarks on the bill.
Senator Mark Udall: Sitting
in the audience today is Master Sergeant Jessey Baca a member of the New
Mexico Air National Guard and his wife Maria. [to them] Just give
everybody a waive here, you two. Master Sgt. Baca was stationed in
Balad, Iraq and exposed to burn pits. His journey to be here today was
not easy. He has battled cancer, chronic bronchitis, chemical induced
asthma, brain lesions, TBI, PTSD and numerous other ailments. Maria has
traveled that difficult road with him. They know first hand the
suffering caused by burn pits and they need to know the answers. It is
because of them and so many others like them that we are here today.
Last year, I introduced S. 1798,
the Open Burn Pits Registry Act with Senator Corker. Representative
Todd Akin introduced it in the House. It is not a partisan issue. We
have each met with veterans and active duty members of the military and
they have told us how important it is that we act now. In both
Afghanistan and Iraq, open air burn pits were widely used at forward
operating bases. Disposing of trash and other debris was a major
challenge. Commanders had to find a way to dispose of waste while
concentrating on the important mission at hand. The solution that was
chosen, however, had serious risks. Pits of waste were set on fire --
sometimes using jet fuel for ignition. Some burn pits were small but
others covered multiple acres of land. Often times, these burn pits
would turn the sky black. At Joint Base Balad Iraq, over 10 acres of
land were used for burning toxic debris. At the height of its
operations, Balad hosted approximately 25,000 military, civilian and
coalition provision authority personnel. These personnel would be
exposed to a toxic soup of chemicals released into the atmosphere.
According to air quality measurements, the air at Balad had multiple
particulates harmful to humans: Plastics and Styrofoams, metals,
chemicals from paints and solvents, petroleum and lubricants, jet fuel
and unexploded ordnance, medical and other dangerous wastes. The air
samples at Joint Base Balad turned up some nasty stuff. Particulate
matter, chemicals that form from the incomplete burning of coal, oil and
gas garbage or other organic substances, volatile organic compounds
such as acetone and benzene -- benzene, as you all know, is known to
cause leukemia -- and dioxins which are associated with Agent Orange.
According to the American Lung Association, emissions from burning waste
contain fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide,
volatile organic compounds and various irritant gases such as nitrogen
oxides that can scar the lungs. All of this was in the air and being
inhaled into the lungs of service members. Our veterans have slowly
begun to raise the alarm as they learn why -- after returning home --
they are short of breath or experiencing headaches and other symptoms
and, in some cases, developing cancer. Or to put it more simply, by
Maria Baca, when she describes her husband's symptoms, "When he
breathes, he can breathe in, but he can't breathe out. That's the
problem that he's having. It feels like a cactus coming out of his
chest. He feels these splinters and he can't get rid of them." The
Dept of Army has also confirmed the dangers posed by burn pits. In a
memo from April 15, 2011, Environmental Science Engineering Officer, G.
Michael Pratt, wrote an air quality summary on Baghram Airfield. And I
would respectfully ask that the full memo be included in the record.
Referring to the burn pits near Baghram Airfield, he said there was
potential that "long-term exposure at these level may experience the
risk for developing chronic health conditions such as reduced lung
function or exacerbated chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, asthma, atherosclerosis and other cardio pulmonary
diseases. Many of our service members are coming home with
these symptoms. I believe, like you do, Madam Chair, that we are
forever in debt for their service, so we must ask the question, "How did
these burn pits impact the health of our returning heroes?" This bill
is a step towards finding the answers we owe them. The legislation will
establish and maintain and Open Burn Pit Registry for those individuals
who may have been exposed during their military service. It would
include information in this registry that the Secretary of the VA
determines is applicable to possible health effects of this exposure.
develop a public information campaign to inform individuals about the
registry and periodically notify members of the registry of significant
developments associated with burn pits exposure. It is supported by
numerous groups including BurnPits 360,
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Association of US Navy, Retired Enlisted
Association, the Uniformed Services Disabled Retirees and the National
Military Family Association. Madam Chair and Ranking Member Burr, thank
you for your attention to this important issue. I look forward to
working with both of you and members of your distinguished Committee on
this important legislation. Thank you and a pleasure once again to be
with you today.
Chair Patty Murray: Thank you very much, Senator Udall. And thank you for your critical work on this. I really appreciate it.
Senator Mark Udall: And I would also ask to be excused unless there are questions from the Committee.
Chair Patty Murray: Absolutely. I appreciate it very much.
Senator Mark Udall: Thank you very much.
Chair Patty Murray: Senator Nelson?
Senator
Bill Nelson: Madam Chairman, Senator Burr, members, I want to second
what Senator Udall just said. We've had a number of cases of the burn
pit exposure in Florida and it is horrific. So thank you, Senator
Udall, for that testimony.