Mark Takano: “I thank my neighbor and very good friend, Dr. Raul Ruiz, for holding and hosting this Special Order hour on toxic…”

“I thank my neighbor and very good friend, Dr. Raul Ruiz, for holding and hosting this Special Order hour on toxic exposures. Madam Speaker, tonight I rise to talk about the urgent need to finally recognize toxic exposure as a cost of war and pass the Honoring Our PACT Act. Every day I hear from more and more veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances while serving our Nation. Whether it is exposure to burn pits, contaminated water, radiation, or other toxins, the health effects are often severe from chronic multisymptom illnesses, to cancers, birth defects, infertility, and respiratory conditions. This problem isn't new, and neither is the need for congressional intervention. As chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I was proud to lead the effort last Congress to pass the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act and get long-overdue justice for our Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. But that took more than 40 years. We cannot let our post-9/11 veterans suffer the same fate. And, yes, we are in danger of having burn pits become this generation of veterans' Agent Orange. We cannot allow this generation of veterans to go the 40 years that our Vietnam veterans had to wait for their justice. {time} 1830 When we send our servicemembers into harm's way, we do so with a promise to care for them and pay for that care. We haven't been keeping up our end of the deal. Hundreds of thousands of veterans have signed up for VA's burn pit registry.…”