(AP) -- A congressional committee has advanced a bill by U.S. Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, that would create a government registry for veterans who may have been exposed to toxic smoke while in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The measure was rolled into a larger veterans' bill that was approved Wednesday by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Some veterans believe they suffer from health problems as a result of smoke and fumes they inhaled while burning tons of trash and human waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Akin's legislation would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a registry to collect information on the number of veterans exposed to the burn pits and the types of health problems they later reported.

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