Heath Robinson died May 6 of an illness that he blamed on exposure to toxic smoke from open-burning trash pits in the Middle East. The bill would increase the government’s accountability toward similarly affected veterans.
Less than a month after Heath Robinson died, a bill named in his honor will be introduced in Congress.
The Pickerington native and former Sgt. First Class in the Ohio Army National Guard died May 6 at age 39 after battling lung cancer for three years. It was an illness that he believed was caused by his exposure to toxic smoke from open-burning trash pits during his deployment to the Middle East in 2006 and 2007.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, planned to introduce the “SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act” in the House on Wednesday, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced that he would introduce it in the Senate next week.
The bill is designed to increase the accountability of the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, as it would require more-detailed reporting on the thousands of veterans believed to be suffering from burn-pit related illnesses.
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