HR 4574 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Veterans’ Right to Breathe Act

Introduced Sep 27, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Raul Ruiz D-CA

Latest action · Oct 14, 2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedSep 27, 2019
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Veterans' Right to Breathe Act

This bill provides a presumption of service connection to burn pit-exposed veterans for certain diseases. Under a presumption of service connection, specific conditions 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 supporting a contingency operation on or after January 1, 1990, and was stationed at a location where an open burn pit (an area used for burning solid waste in open air without equipment) was used.

Cosponsors 28

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 27, 2019 to Jun 25, 2020; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-FL	Gus M. Bilirakis	Original	Sep 27, 2019
D-TX	Joaquin Castro	Original	Sep 27, 2019
D-WA	Derek Kilmer		Jan 27, 2020
D-MN	Ilhan Omar		Jan 27, 2020
R-KY	Thomas Massie		Jan 27, 2020
D-MN	Collin C. Peterson		Jan 30, 2020
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano		Jan 30, 2020
D-TN	Steve Cohen		Jan 30, 2020
D-PA	Mary Gay Scanlon		Feb 4, 2020
D-OH	Tim Ryan		Feb 4, 2020
D-AZ	Tom O'Halleran		Feb 4, 2020
D-MN	Angie Craig		Feb 7, 2020
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren		Feb 7, 2020
D-MD	David J. Trone		Feb 25, 2020
D-MN	Dean Phillips		Feb 25, 2020
R-PA	Glenn Thompson		Feb 25, 2020
D-MD	Jamie Raskin		Feb 25, 2020
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio		Feb 25, 2020
D-MD	C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger		Mar 5, 2020
D-TX	Henry Cuellar		Mar 5, 2020
D-OH	Joyce Beatty		Mar 5, 2020
R-CO	Scott R. Tipton		Mar 5, 2020
D-NV	Dina Titus		Jun 25, 2020
R-AK	Don Young		Jun 25, 2020
D-MD	John P. Sarbanes		Jun 25, 2020
D-DE	Lisa Blunt Rochester		Jun 25, 2020
D-WI	Ron Kind		Jun 25, 2020
D-CA	Ted Lieu		Jun 25, 2020

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Veterans' Affairs Committee	Referred Sep 27, 2019
	Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee	Referred Oct 14, 2019

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Oct 14, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
Sep 27, 2019Introduced in House
Sep 27, 2019Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Debate and remarks H641	Raul Ruiz D-CA	Jan 29, 2020

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, section 8, Clauses 1 and 18 of the United States Constitution, to provide for the general welfare and make all laws necessary and proper to carry out the powers of Congress.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 157, September 27, 2019, page H8082.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 116-31	LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 5435, TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND THE CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE TO MEET CERTAIN TARGETS FOR THE REDUCTION OF THE EMISSION OF GREENHOUSE GASES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, "AMERICAN PUBLIC LANDS AND WATERS CLIMATE SOLUTION ACT OF 2019," AND H.R. 5859, TO ESTABLISH FOREST MANAGEMENT, REFORESTATION, AND UTILIZATION PRACTICES WHICH LEAD TO THE SEQUESTRATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, "TRILLION TREES ACT"73 pages	Natural Resources Committee	Feb 26, 2020

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 2371	Veterans’ Right to Breathe Act	Reintroduced Bill	Jul 14, 2021

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: 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.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Veterans’ Right to Breathe Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Sep 27, 2019Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.