Credit Bumble Dee / Adobe Stock A congressional committee will hear testimony next week on the need to speed up health care benefits for service members exposed totoxic burn pitsoverseas. Two Michigan representatives are behind the "Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act of 2021" to accomplish that. For decades, the U.S. military has used burn pits to dispose of garbage — including plastics, toxic chemicals, and human waste — in war zones overseas. An estimated 3.5 million veterans have been exposed to burn pits, while serving overseas. Many have been diagnosed with a variety illnesses, including cancer. But when they come home, servicemen and women, who have sought medical treatment for illnesses possibly related to the burn pits, have often run into a wall of “red tape.”