Should service in Iraq and Afghanistan be a recognized health hazard for vets applying for benefits?

[rangerrebew]

Should service in Iraq and Afghanistan be a recognized health hazard for vets applying for benefits?
By: Patricia Kime   November 22
 

Lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would recognize the health hazards posed by oil well fires, burn pits and other pollution sources in Afghanistan and much of the Middle East — an effort they say would help ill veterans who apply for VA benefits.

The “Veterans Burn Pit Exposure Recognition” bill, S. 2950, would declare that service members who deployed to the Middle East in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War and after, to Afghanistan and Djibouti following Sept. 11, 2001, and to Iraq beginning in 2003 were exposed to toxins.

The bill stops short of establishing service connection for specific diseases and does not guarantee disability benefits for ill veterans.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/11/22/proposed-legislation-would-name-service-in-iraq-afghanistan-a-health-hazard-to-us-troops/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.25.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief