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THE PERSIAN GULF VETERANS ACT OF 1998 Representative Lane Evans February 26, 1998 Mr. Speaker, I am today introducing the Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998. This important legislation offers a framework for compensating veterans suffering from Gulf War illnesses, responds to the need many veterans have expressed for identifying effective models to treat hard-to-define diseases, and addresses other problems Congress has investigated since 1992. Joining with me, as original cosponsors of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998, are my distinguished colleagues, Representatives Abercrombie, Bishop, Blagojevich, Brown, Carson, Clyburn, Filner, Gutierrez, Kennedy (MA), Mascara, Ortiz, Peterson, Reyes, Rodriguez, and Underwood. I am also pleased the Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 has the support of the major groups advocating on behalf of Persian Gulf veterans. The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and Vietnam Veterans of America have all expressed support for this measure. Seven years ago this week, allied ground forces, with air and naval support, countered Iraq’s invasion of its neighbor Kuwait. Of the nearly 700,000 American troops who served in the Persian Gulf theatre, about 100,000 have signed onto registries maintained by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The Departments’ estimates of those registered who have diagnoses which are not easily treated vary from 10-25 percent. Meeting the needs of those suffering from illnesses, including those which defy ready diagnoses and treatments, is a continuing obligation of our nation—an obligation we must honor. With the current buildup of American troops in the Persian Gulf region, the need for enacting the Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 is even more compelling. The Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 calls for an independent agency to advise the Department of Veterans Affairs on the appropriateness of the federal research agenda on the numerous illnesses suffered by Gulf vets and the probable causes of these illnesses. The research review would lay the foundation for compensating Persian Gulf War veterans by determining where associations can be made between specific exposures and illnesses and where other information must be considered. It may take years to determine why so many veterans are sick, but we know one thing for sure. Our veterans are suffering and many share similar symptoms that are not attributable to any particular cause. It seems fair to use these symptoms, rather than some yet-to-be-determined causes as the basis for compensation. While this approach would require scientists to determine which conditions are most likely the result of Gulf War service, veterans would not have to prove that a certain exposure caused an adverse health outcome. That would require some science that simply does not exist. Determining the "prevalence" of the illnesses Gulf War veterans experience more often than other veterans from the same era, is an epidemiologic approach endorsed by scientists from the President’s Gulf War advisory panel. On February 5th, Dr. Arthur Caplan, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, stated that his Committee felt that a prevalence model gave the veterans the greatest benefit of the doubt. According to Dr. Caplan, "Gulf War Illness is a very real phenomena. No one on this committee should doubt that for a moment¼What should be forthcoming¼ is an unwavering commitment from this Congress and this administration to provide the health and disability benefits to all those who became sick when they came back from the Gulf." The Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 would also require the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS/IOM) to review emerging technologies to assess exposure to agents that may have been present in the Gulf or to identify new diagnostic tools for some conditions. It would ask the NAS/IOM to assess the most effective treatment protocols for illnesses like those from which Persian Gulf veterans suffer and to review the research undertaken by the federal government and offer its own assessment of the research to date along with identifying research that should be done to fill the knowledge gaps. This would provide the "third-party" perspective sought by many Persian Gulf veterans, as well as the American public. The Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 would also require the information infrastructure VA, DOD and Congress need to review the extent of veterans’ health care problems and monitor these agencies’ abilities to address them with adequate compensation and health care services. We must never give up on our efforts to learn why many of our Gulf vets are sick, but we must also use the best available means to treat their symptoms and to compensate them for their disabilities. Our veterans deserve the benefit of the doubt on this issue, and that’s what the Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 is designed to give them. |