[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 28, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WELLSTONE:
  S. 211. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the 
period of time for the manifestation of chronic disabilities due to 
undiagnosed symptoms in veterans who served in the Persian Gulf war in 
order for those disabilities to be compensable by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs; to the Committee on Veterans Affairs.


         The Persian Gulf War Veterans Compensation Act of 1997

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I am pleased and proud to 
introduce a bill today that will address a serious problem faced by 
many Persian Gulf veterans--the denial of their claims for VA 
compensation based solely on the fact that their symptoms arose more 
than 2 years after they last served in the gulf. This bill is a 
companion to H.R. 466 introduced recently by Congressman Lane Evans, 
ranking minority member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and an 
outstanding, energetic, and dedicated veterans' advocate.
  This bill would extend from 2 to 10 years the time by which a veteran 
must develop symptoms after departing the gulf to be eligible to file 
for VA disability compensation.
  While this legislation is simple and straight forward, there are a 
number of reasons that I am introducing it that require some 
elaboration.
  Over a month ago Congressman Evans and I sent a joint letter to VA 
Secretary Jesse Brown asking him to administratively extend the 
presumptive period from 2 to 10 years. We pointed out that the VA had 
denied about 95 percent of Persian gulf veterans' claims for 
undiagnosed illnesses and noted that in House testimony last March 
Secretary Brown himself said that ``most of the people we are denying, 
a large percentage of the people that we are denying, do not have a 
disease within the 2-year period.'' The Secretary added that there was 
a need to examine health problems emerging after that time period.
  Mr. President, our letter also noted that continuing disclosures 
about possible exposures of our troops in the gulf to chemical weapons 
make it clear that it may take many years before we have a full 
understanding of what occurred during the Persian Gulf war and how 
these events affected our veterans. In closing, we stressed that gulf 
war veterans must be given the benefit of the doubt.
  Although Secretary Brown has not yet replied to our letter, I know 
that he is a fearless and deeply committed advocate of our Nation's 
veterans and fully shares my view that America's veterans must always 
be given the benefit of the doubt. Under his leadership, the VA is now 
reviewing 11,000 cases to ensure that Persian Gulf veterans are indeed 
given the benefit of the doubt in the development and adjudication of 
their compensation claims.
  Secretary Brown, at the request of President Clinton, is formulating 
a plan to expand the deadline for compensation which is to be submitted 
to the President in March. I anticipate that the administration will 
extend the deadline and believe that when this occurs they'll want 
congressional authorization. This bill is intended to grant them that 
authority.

  Mr. President, so that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will 
better understand my reasons for introducing this bill and why I 
believe the administration must and will extend the deadline for filing 
gulf war claims, permit me to list some of the key factors involved:
  Sick Persian Gulf veterans shouldn't be kept in limbo, waiting years 
for the completion of research that should have been done years ago on 
the long-term health effects of low-level exposures to chemical and 
other agents;
  In this connection, the experience of atomic veterans for over 50 
years is hardly encouraging, with disputes among scientists persisting 
about the long-term effects of exposure to low-level radiation and 
about the validity of U.S. Government-funded radiation dose 
reconstructions--dose reconstructions which continue to be a major 
factor in denial of the vast majority of atomic veterans' claims for VA 
compensation;
  While I'm pleased that research is finally taking place after a delay 
of over 5 years stemming from DOD's contention that there were no 
chemical exposures and that low-level exposures had no health effects, 
I fear there is a possibility that the etiology of Persian Gulf 
illnesses may never be known because needed scientific data was not 
collected immediately after the war and because of the complexity of 
figuring out the synergistic effects of various combinations of harmful 
agents present during the gulf war.
  DOD and CIA are developing new information about possible chemical 
and other exposures during the gulf war that could further complicate 
the search for the causes of illnesses, while the media sometimes carry 
contradictory reports on such exposures that add to the uncertainties 
and anxieties of veterans and their families;
  There are a number of serious diseases that are not manifested until 
10 years or more after initial exposure to harmful agents.
  In closing, Mr. President, I would like to pay tribute to the brave 
Minnesota veterans of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm whom I met 
with over a month ago. These Minnesota veterans who are my mentors told 
me about the illnesses and symptoms they developed after the war, 
including skin rashes, hair loss, reproductive problems, memory loss, 
headaches, aching joints, and internal bleeding. They said that they 
are scared to death about their health problems. I was deeply moved by 
their accounts and pledged to do all I could to help them. Moreover, I 
was distressed to learn that as of last month, out of 171 Minnesota 
gulf veterans who had filed disability claims, only 18 were receiving 
full or partial disability benefits.
  As part of an action plan to help Minnesota gulf veterans, I told 
them that Congressman Evans and I were writing to Secretary Brown to 
extend the 2-year period to 10 years. This initiative was supported 
both by Minnesota Persian Gulf veterans and State veterans' leaders and 
the bill I'm now introducing is a logical followup to the letter sent 
to Secretary Brown.
  I am very pleased to note that this legislation is supported by the 
American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of America and I urge my 
colleagues to join these organizations in strongly supporting this 
bill.
  I dedicate this bill to the patriotic and courageous Minnesota 
veterans who served in the Persian Gulf war.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 211

       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 ``Persian Gulf War Veterans 
     Compensation Act of 1997''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PRESUMPTIVE PERIOD FOR MANIFESTATION OF 
                   CHRONIC DISABILITIES DUE TO UNDIAGNOSED 
                   SYMPTOMS IN VETERANS WHO SERVED IN THE PERSIAN 
                   GULF WAR.

       Subsection (b) of section 1117 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in the 
     case of a disability of a veteran becoming manifest within 10 
     years after the last date on which the veteran performed 
     active military, naval, or air service in the Southwest Asia 
     theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War.''
                                 ______