Brown wants military to be responsible

SANDUSKY — Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown on Wednesday introduced legislation in the Senate named in honor of Heath Robinson, an Ohio veteran who died earlier this month from a service-related illness caused by exposure to toxic smoke from burn pits maintained by the U.S. military on his base in Afghanistan. Former presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, will introduce similar legislation designed to document cases of burn pit exposure, which, up to this point, the military has refused to acknowledge. Gabbard, like Robinson, is a veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait. Robinson joined the Ohio National Guard in 2003 and was stationed in Iraq and later in Afghanistan. He became ill in 2016, about 10 years after his tour in Afghanistan, where the military had a football field-sized burn pit near his base that was maintained around-the-clock to destroy all waste, weapons, paint and chemicals, computer hardware and software. The burn pit generated a constant stream of toxic smoke that led to Robinson developing a rare form of cancer. The military maintained hundreds of burn pits near bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands of veterans were exposed to toxic smoke. Some burn pits are still maintained by the Department of Defense despite the known dangers to service personnel and civilians near the bases. It has refused, in the past, to acknowledge the illnesses suffered by veterans after they returned home and has denied them family benefits. "It harkens back to the fight with the VA to get benefits for illnesses wholly caused by Agent Orange (during Vietnam)," Brown said during a conference call on Wednesday. Agent Orange was an exfoliant used by the military during the Vietnam War that caused a variety of illnesses to U.S. soldiers that the military denied for many years before Congress forced the Veterans Administration to provide benefits, which took years to accomplish. "The military needs to be a lot more responsible," Brown said. Heath Robinson is pictured with his wife, Danielle, a 2003 Sandusky High School graduate, and their daughter, Brielle, 6. Heath suffers from exposure to burn pits and believes his condition is terminal. Register photo/ANDY OURIEL Robinson, who died on May 6, was married to Danielle Kaufman, a 2003 graduate of Sandusky High School. He was 39 when he died. Heath also left behind their daughter, Brielle, 6. His mother-in-law, Susan Zeier, of Sandusky, has been lobbying Congress on behalf of veterans suffering from burn pit-related illnesses for three years. She's credited Brown as being a champion for veterans, and Brown credited her during Wednesday's conference call. Brown and Gabbard successfully introduced the Burn Pits Accountability Act in Congress last year, which was signed into law in December and requires the military to establish a registry of veterans exposed to toxic fumes from burn pits and provide veterans who may have been exposed notification and medical exams screening for illnesses associated with exposure. It's unclear, however, exactly how well the VA is doing with regards to fulfilling these requirements. The Heath Robinson Burn Pits Transparency Act requires the Veterans Administration: • To document any veteran who may have been exposed to burn pits and notify Congress of the case and several data points related to the veterans' cases and exposure to burn pits • Requires the VA to submit a biannual report to Congress identifying how many veterans complain of burn pit exposure, how many make disability claims and what the outcome of those claims are, including a comprehensive list of conditions burn pit exposed veterans have, and the location of the burn pits to which they were exposed • Requires health care providers to inform any veteran who mentions "burn pits" about the existing Burn Pit Registry (established under the Burn Pits Accountability Act) so they have knowledge of the Registry and can register themselves Click here to watch February 2019 interview with Heath Robinson Brown's office provided the following answers to questions the Register asked on Wednesday: Q: Why introduce this legislation now? A: Following our successful efforts to include the Burn Pits Accountability Act in the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that was signed into law last year, we wanted to continue to help veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits. We're introducing the SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act to honor the memory of Heath Robinson and to build on our efforts to help these veterans. Q: What impact will it have if it is approved and signed into law? A: Right now, there is no presumption of service connection between the illnesses veterans develop and their exposure to toxic burn pits. So each veteran has to prove that their disability is linked to their service in order to get disability compensation. This bill will help track veterans who have been exposed and the illnesses that they developed as they seek care at VA. The legislation would also track the outcome of disability compensation claims to see the rate at which VA approves claims for illnesses reported by veterans affected by burn pits. By better tracking these conditions, we can work to show correlation and get these veterans and their families the benefits they need. Q: Who will you rely on most to win approval for this bill? A: The Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee has always been an especially bipartisan committee. I'm hopeful that we can get this bill passed by the committee, passed in the House and Senate and signed into law with large bipartisan support. Q: Who is your biggest adversary in getting this legislation enacted and what, specifically, do you believe is the main objection to it? Why would anyone oppose this legislation? A: The Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee has always been an especially bipartisan committee. I'm hopeful that we can get this bill passed by the committee, passed in the House and Senate and signed into law with large bipartisan support. Q: Will you win approval and get this bill enacted, and when? A: The Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee has always been an especially bipartisan committee. I'm hopeful that we can get this bill passed by the committee, passed in the House and Senate and signed into law with large bipartisan support. Q: Is the military/DOD/VA in full compliance with the requirements of the Burn Pits Accountability Act, and if not, in what areas are they not in compliance? Are there penalties or adverse consequences in the bill that happen if the military/DOD/VA fails to comply? Please explain? A: We've been in touch with DoD to see how far along they are in implementing the Burn Pits Accountability Act, which was included in the fiscal year 2020 NDAA. This was signed into law in December and we'll continue to monitor the implementation of the law. Q: Does the transparency bill include penalties or adverse consequences for noncompliance? A: The new legislation doesn't have any penalties for non-compliance. Once the bill becomes law, we'll do oversight to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs complies with the legislation's intent.