Jon Stewart joins Rep. Ruiz in support of new burn pits legislation

Representative Raul Ruiz, along with former Daily Show host, Jon Stewart, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York unveiled new legislation they say will protect veterans and service members Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of military service members in Iraq and Afghanistan were exposed to hundreds of burn pits to dispose of trash.

Service members exposed to the burn pits have been fighting to get benefits from the federal government for years.

Stewart has been an outspoken advocate for 9-11 first responders who became ill in the years following the attacks. Now he is backing this new legislation that aims to streamline the process for getting benefits to veterans sickened by exposure to the toxins.

Ruiz took up the issue of burn pits when he learned of local veteran Jennifer Kepner who later died of pancreatic cancer after serving in the Air Force in Iraq.

You can see more in John White's I-Team investigation from back in 2017.

She passed away in October of that year at the age of 39.