Banning Burn Pits

Floor Speech

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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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