[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 45 (Friday, March 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S3773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     PRESIDENTIAL INITIATIVE TO RESPOND TO GULF WAR VETERANS' NEEDS

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, last month we commemorated the 50th 
anniversary of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima holds a special place in our national 
consciousness because of the mythic heroism of those who fought there--
and because of the ultimate sacrifice made by those who died there.
  Grateful as we are to the veterans of Iwo, the truth is: Every 
veteran has performed an act of heroism, and every veteran deserves 
this Nation's support. Not simply our gratitude. But our support, while 
they are on the battlefield, and after they leave it.
  This week, during an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 
President Clinton announced a number of initiatives that will provide 
for some of our newest veterans--the veterans of the gulf war--the 
support which they clearly need and deserve.
  I want to focus in particular on one of those initiatives.
  The President announced that he is creating a Presidential advisory 
committee on gulf war veterans' illnesses. This will be the first fully 
independent panel to examine the issues surrounding what has come to be 
known as gulf war syndrome, the chronic medical problems suffered by 
many gulf war veterans and, in some cases, their spouses and children.
  There are currently 30 studies being conducted on the gulf war 
syndrome.
  The advisory committee will act as a clearinghouse. It will 
coordinate research efforts into the causes and treatment of gulf war-
related illnesses.
  It will also conduct aggressive outreach efforts to make sure that 
gulf war veterans and the medical professionals who treat them are kept 
fully informed of any advances.
  The advisory committee will work with the Departments of Veterans 
Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services. And they will report 
directly their findings and recommendations directly to the President 
before the year is out.
  America showed 4 years ago during the gulf war what we can accomplish 
when we mobilize all our resources to achieve a goal.
  The veterans of that conflict are now relying on us to marshall our 
resources once again to provide them with the medical care they need 
and deserve.
  Whether an injury is diagnosed or undiagnosed; whether it was caused 
by a bullet, by some invisible, poisonous gas, or by any other factor, 
it is still a service-related injury, and the man or woman who suffered 
it deserve our support.
  In the last session I worked with my friend and colleague Senator 
Rockefeller to develop legislation that would give VA the authority to 
pay compensation to ailing gulf war veterans, even if the exact nature 
of their illness has not yet been diagnosed. Congress passed that 
legislation because it was the right thing to do.
  For more than a decade, I fought to gain compensation for veterans 
whose illnesses were caused by exposure to agent orange in Vietnam. 
That battle was won eventually, but only after a science proved what 
commonsense already told us: that there was a clear scientific link 
between agent orange and the illnesses.
  Let us not repeat that mistake.
  When the men and women who fought in the gulf were called to serve 
they did not say, ``Let us conduct a study.'' They did their duty.
  Now a grateful Nation should do its duty.
  The President's advisory committee will help us perform that duty 
with the least possible duplication or delay.
  As a veteran myself, and as a grateful American, I salute the 
President's initiative.


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