[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E240-E241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE PERSIAN GULF VETERANS ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 1998

  Mr. EVANS. 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 addressed 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

[[Page E241]]

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 
scientist 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 exit.
  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 moment . . .  What should be forthcoming . . . 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.

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