Title: Veterans' Right to Breathe Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Veterans' Right to Breathe Act
This bill provides a presumption of service connection for certain diseases for burn pit-exposed veterans. Under a presumption of service connection, specific disabilities diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded. A burn pit-exposed veteran is a veteran who was stationed at a location where an open burn pit (an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment) was used while deployed on or after September 11, 2001.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7288 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7288

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of 
service connection for certain diseases in veterans who were exposed to 
                               burn pits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 12, 2018

    Mr. Ruiz (for himself, Mr. Castro of Texas, and Mr. Bilirakis) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of 
service connection for certain diseases in veterans who were exposed to 
                               burn pits.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Right to Breathe Act''.

SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR CERTAIN DISEASES IN 
              VETERANS WHO WERE EXPOSED TO BURN PITS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1112 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and 
subject to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, a disease 
specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection becoming manifest in a 
burn pit-exposed veteran shall be considered to have been incurred in 
or aggravated during active military, naval, or air service, 
notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such disease 
during a period of such service.
    ``(2) The diseases referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection 
are the following:
            ``(A) Asthma.
            ``(B) Chronic bronchitis.
            ``(C) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
            ``(D) Constrictive bronchiolitis.
            ``(E) Emphysema.
            ``(F) Granulomatous disease.
            ``(G) Interstitial lung disease.
            ``(H) Lung cancer.
            ``(I) Pneumonia.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection:
            ``(A) The term `burn pit-exposed veteran' means a veteran 
        who, while serving on active duty on or after September 11, 
        2001--
                    ``(i) was deployed in support of a contingency 
                operation; and
                    ``(ii) during such deployment, was based or 
                stationed at a location where an open burn pit was 
                used.
            ``(B) The term `open burn pit' means an area of land 
        located that--
                    ``(i) is designated by the Secretary of Defense to 
                be used for disposing solid waste by burning in the 
                outdoor air; and
                    ``(ii) does not contain a commercially manufactured 
                incinerator or other equipment specifically designed 
                and manufactured for the burning of solid waste.
            ``(C) The term `contingency operation' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10.
            ``(D) The term `solid waste' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 1004(27) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
        U.S.C. 6903(27)).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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