Political Quotes

“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.…”