House backs measure to help veterans exposed to burn pits
WASHINGTON — A bill that would dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan won approval Thursday in the House.
The measure has the backing of the nation’s major veterans groups and underscores the continued cost of war years after the fighting has stopped. The bill’s fate is unclear in the Senate, but if passed into law, it would increase spending by more than $300 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“If we’re not willing to pay the price of war, we shouldn’t go,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The bill passed by a vote of 256174 with 34 Republicans joining all House Democrats in voting for it.
The bill would open up Department of Veterans Affairs health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service even if they don’t have a service-connected disability.
The bill also would provide new or increased disability benefits to thousands of veterans who have become ill with cancer or respiratory conditions such as bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The VA would presume that veterans developed their illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances during their service.
Supporters say the bill is a clear recognition from Congress that veterans were exposed to toxic substances, are suffering as a result and that the process of proving to the VA that their illness was caused by their exposure is too burdensome.
Opponents say the legislation would grant health and disability benefits to many veterans whose conditions may not have anything to do with their military service. They expressed worry that the influx of cases would tax an already stressed VA system, leading to longer wait times for health care and processing disability claims.
“This bill addresses the true cost of war and opposing it would be a vote against our service members and veterans,” said Rep. Mark Takano of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, a U.S. Army veteran, said she hears from fellow veterans frequently in Iowa who wait months, or even years, for the benefits they earned, and said problems will only grow if the bill becomes law. She also noted that the bill’s projected cost is more than the budgets of nine Cabinetlevel departments combined.
“We are not doing right by our veterans by being fiscally irresponsible in their name,” MillerMeeks said.
The military routinely used open burn pits to dispose of tires, batteries, medical waste and other materials into open burn pits during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2020 study from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine found that existing health studies provided insufficient evidence to determine whether exposure to burn pit emissions are linked to adverse respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer.
The authors of the study said the uncertainty doesn’t mean there is no association — only that there was insufficient data to draw definitive conclusions.
The Senate has unanimously passed a much narrower bill extending how long combat veterans are guaranteed VA care. But House Democrats said the Senate legislation is just a fraction of what is needed.