NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE: May 18, 2000

Washington, DC – "Women veterans who served in Vietnam," said Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, "have been more likely to give birth to children with birth defects – and particularly with severe birth defects – than their counterparts who served elsewhere." According to an October 1998 study by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), these findings were based on research involving almost 90% of the women who served in Vietnam and who were alive on January 1, 1992. The VA study, which identified a statistically significant increase in a wide variety of birth defects, is presently being evaluated for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Evans, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, today introduced H.R. 4488, the "Women Vietnam Veterans’ Children’s Birth Defects Benefits Act." The bill would provide compensation, health care and rehabilitative services to these disabled children, born with a variety of birth defects, in a manner similar to that currently provided for the children of Vietnam veterans who suffer from spina bifida, a congenital defect of the spine. The Evans bill is consistent with the legislative action Congress has taken in the past, and would benefit disabled people born with a variety of birth defects, who where conceived after their mother’s service in Vietnam.

The Evans bill ensures that the VA would have the authority to provide health care and appropriate compensation. This bill also gives the Secretary flexibility to contract for care from private sources to ensure that appropriate medical services are provided.

"I hope Congress will take quick action to approve this legislation," Evans said. "The bottom line is there are disabled Americans who are paying a price for their mother's military service on behalf of our Nation. They need and deserve the best assistance that our Nation can provide them."