Daniel Hoffman: We Need to Pass the Burn Pits Accountability Act

EXCERPT:

HOFFMAN: "It’s multifaceted. I think it’s really quite telling that General Petraeus penned an open letter to the Congress in support of the Burn Pit Accountability Act. The first step is we need legislation. We need to pass that Act. This week we celebrated the extraordinary career of Senator John McCain who was known for defending our military and delivering on bipartisan efforts. This issue for sure, should garner the bipartisan support it needs. Secondly, equally as important I think it’s got to be an issue. We should expect new Secretary of Veteran Affairs to take this on with the urgency it requires. I’m sure we’ll see that. As I mentioned before, DOD is taking steps not only to close these sites but also to have a registry with Veterans Affairs so we can track those individuals, there's over 150,000 who have registered. It allows us to track some of the medical issues that they’re having and draw some conclusions about whether the burn pits indeed were the cause for blood disorders, diseases including cancer and other respiratory problems."