Kenya Merritt Renewing our PACT Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8524 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8524 To amend title 5, United States Code, to improve access to workers' compensation for civilian Federal employees exposed to toxic burn pits, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 27, 2026 Ms. Pou (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Ms. Maloy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to improve access to workers' compensation for civilian Federal employees exposed to toxic burn pits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Kenya Merritt Renewing our Promise to Address Chemical Toxicity Act of 2026'' or the ``Kenya Merritt Renewing our PACT Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. CERTAIN DISEASES DEEMED TO BE PROXIMATELY CAUSED BY EMPLOYMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO TOXIC BURN PITS. (a) Establishment of Presumption.--Subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8143b the following: ``Sec. 8143c. Employees exposed to burn pits and toxic hazards in foreign contingency operations ``(a) Definitions.--In this section: ``(1) Contingency operation.--The term `contingency operation' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 10. ``(2) Eligible employee.--The term `eligible employee' means an employee of the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, or an element of the intelligence community, or a