[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 12, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AIR FORCE HEALTH STUDY/OPERATION RANCH HAND

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 12, 2007

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
introduce legislation to ensure that the assets, including electronic 
data files and biological specimens on all participants in the Air 
Force Health Study, are transferred to the Medical Follow-Up Agency 
from the Air Force Health Study and are maintained, managed, and made 
available as a resource for future research for the benefit of veterans 
and their families, and for other humanitarian purposes.
  This legislation is a companion to legislation introduced in the 
Senate by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman, Daniel Akaka.
  Operation Ranch Hand was the military code name for the spraying of 
herbicides from U. S. Air Force aircraft in Southeast Asia from 1962 
through 1971. During this time, Ranch Hand sprayed about 19 million 
gallons of herbicide, 11 million of which consisted of Agent Orange. 
The spray fell mostly on the forests of South Vietnam, but some was 
used in Laos, and some killed crops to deprive Vietcong and North 
Vietnamese troops of food. In all, Ranch Hand sprayed herbicide over 
about 6 million acres.
  The Air Force Health Study (AFHS)--also known as the Ranch Hand 
Study--was initiated by the U.S. Air Force in 1979 to assess the 
possible health effects of military personnel's exposure to Agent 
Orange and other chemical defoliants sprayed during the Vietnam War, 
some of which contained dioxin.
  The initial physical examination and surveying of study subjects was 
conducted in 1982 and subsequent cycles were conducted in 1985, 1987, 
1992, 1997, and 2002. The data from the physical examinations should 
not be lost, and in fact, should be available to researchers for the 
benefit of all.
  My bill is consistent with the recommendations of the Institute of 
Medicine's report on the disposition of the study. I urge my colleagues 
to support this legislation.

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