Tom Udall: “President Obama recently announced that our long war and military involvement in Iraq would be coming to a close. For…”

“President Obama recently announced that our long war and military involvement in Iraq would be coming to a close. For nearly a decade, our armed forces served honorably in Iraq and got the job done. While I opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, my commitment to our troops and our veterans has been resolute. We must always remain mindful of the sacrifice and the obligations we hold to every veteran. It is because of those obligations that I rise today to speak about the hidden wounds facing the veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars. These wounds were not caused by insurgents or terrorists, but by exposure to environmental pollution caused by our own open air burn pits. Open air burn pits were widely used at forward operating bases, where disposing of trash and other debris was a major challenge, and the solution that was chosen had serious medical and environmental risks. Pits of waste were set on fire andthey would turn the sky black. At this and other bases, disposing of trash and other debris was a major challenge, a challenge which was solved using a method fraught with medical and environmental risks. Over 10 acres of land at Joint Base Balad in Iraq were used for burning toxic debris. This is a base, that at the height of its operations, hosted approximately 25,000 military, civilian and coalition personnel.…”