[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 31 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE PERSIAN GULF WAR HELP LINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Filner] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, tonight I want to report some good news for 
our Nation's Persian Gulf war veterans. The Veterans Administration has 
set up a help line phone number that gulf war veterans can call for 
health examinations. Veterans who are in need of care or who wish to 
take advantage of the physical examination under the Persian Gulf 
registry or who have general questions about their experience in the 
Persian Gulf war can call the VA's Persian Gulf information hot line. 
That number is 1-800-PGW-VETS. Or, if they need the numbers, 1-800-749-
8387.
  Active-duty service members who were deployed to the gulf during the 
war may receive a health examination through military treatment 
facilities by calling 1-800-796-9699. The VA encourages all gulf war 
veterans to participate in this important program.
  I am proud to support President Clinton's action to make it easier 
for Persian Gulf war veterans to collect compensation benefits for 
undiagnosed illnesses resulting from this war. At the urging of 
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown, the President agreed to extend 
the period during which undiagnosed illnesses, such as Persian Gulf war 
syndrome, will be considered related to a veteran's service in the 
gulf, thereby entitling that veteran to compensation benefits.
  Congress had begun to address this problem prior to President 
Clinton's decision. My esteemed colleague, the gentleman from Illinois, 
Mr. Lane Evans, the ranking member on the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs, introduced a bill earlier this year that would lengthen the 
time that gulf war veterans can file for disability compensation. I was 
proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill, the Persian Gulf War 
Veterans Compensation Act.
  President Clinton listened to Congress, and to the thousands of 
veterans across the Nation who are suffering from the mysterious 
illness known as Persian Gulf War Syndrome. Mr. Speaker, our inability 
to find an exact cause of gulf war syndrome requires that we give our 
veterans the benefit of the doubt. We must move forward and provide 
care for our suffering Persian Gulf war veterans even as the search 
continues for a cause of this syndrome.
  America and this Congress must not shirk its responsibilities to its 
veterans. I applaud the actions taken by President Clinton and the 
Veterans Administration to give our veterans the care that they need 
and deserve.
  Remember that help line phone number. It is 1-800-749-8387. Please 
get the help that is now offered through the Veterans Administration.

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