[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 134 (Friday, October 11, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          U.S.-U.K. COOPERATION ON GULF WAR SYNDROME RESEARCH

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 10, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to recent 
developments in the Government Reform Subcommittee of National 
Security, Veterans, Affairs, and International Relations.
  I would like to commend my colleagues, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Putnam and 
Mr. Shays, on their trip to London in June, where they met with Lord 
Alfred Morris of Manchester as well as veterans, parliamentarians and 
researchers from the United Kingdom. The purpose of the meeting was to 
examine the status of international cooperation with regard to 
epidemiological and clinical research into illnesses reported by the 
United Kingdom Veterans of the Persian Gulf War.
  This meeting followed a hearing held by Chairman Shay's subcommittee 
last January that examined Allied research into Gulf War Illnesses and 
recent progress in that field.
  It is only fitting that the United States and Great Britain should 
pool their respective resources in unraveling the mysteries of Gulf War 
Syndrome and fight together in learning more about it and how to combat 
it.
  I strongly support the efforts of our British Ally to make the 
results of their research available to the Congress and to the 
Department of Veterans, Affairs Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War 
Veterans Illnesses.
  Later tonight, the House will vote on a resolution authorizing the 
President to use force in Iraq. American and British troops may soon 
face the prospects of fighting on the potentially toxic battlefields of 
Iraq. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we continue in our 
struggle to understand Gulf War Syndrome's causation and cures. We must 
not withhold information from our allies which might help us to reach 
these goals, and the level of cooperation between Mr. Shays, Mr. 
Putnam, Mr. Sanders and our British Allies, during their meeting in 
June was very much in the spirit of this idea.

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