What I'm sensing and what the committee will continue to try to look at is that there may have been a concern that we just simply didn't have the capability or resources to do what the Congress wanted and what the President signed into law, and that we didn't pay attention to it back then, and my God, all of a sudden we have 250,000 people sent off to fight a war. And we can't undo that. And, by the way, we've got the problem with protective gear and that's a higher priority. And the JLA suits are all around the freaking country and we don't know where they are, so let's get that; and the committee's making noise about that, so that's a higher priority. I mean, I can just begin to imagine in my own mind why this happened. But this I know: It would have been the right thing to have given them physicals, and we could have found a way to deal with it. And we might not have had a doctor at every station, but we could have done that. And this just makes me more convinced than ever that we had better give them the physicals when they leave, and that we had better have a better questionnaire. And, for that, I thank you all. I thank you for a lot of things, but I think we have our work cut out for us. Do you agree? OK. Is there any final word that any of you want to make? Anything on the record that needs to be part of the record? Dr. Moxley. Dr. MOXLEY. No, sir. Mr. SHAYS. Dr. Feinleib. Dr. FEINLEIB. I want to thank you personally for inviting me today and giving me a chance to contribute to your deliberations. And thank you for playing this leadership role again and trying to rectify this problem and preserve the health of the fighting men and women who are helping us. Mr. SHAYS. Thank you. Mr. Robinson. Mr. ROBINSON. I would like to echo the sentiments that we are concerned about our fighting force and pray for them. And I would like to also say that there was no Kosovo syndrome and there was no Bosnia syndrome when soldiers returned. And the reason there wasn't was because there were no mysterious illnesses that came from there. I look forward to the recommendations of the committee and hope that we can implement them to protect the force. Thank you very much. Mr. SHAYS. Thank you all very much. And you all have made a wonderful contribution, and I do thank you for that. It's been a very interesting hearing. I don't want to put anyone in an awkward situation from the first panel. But if there is anything from the first panel that needs to be made part of the record, we would put it on the record publicly if that needs to be done. If not, we are going to let the record stand as it exists and we will continue this process. And I thank you all very much. This hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 5:16 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] [The prepared statement of Hon. Dan Burton and additional information submitted for the hearing record follows:] Protecting the Health of Deployed Forces: Lessons Learned Statement of Dan Burton Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness Member, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging and International Relations Committee on Government Reform 2247 Rayburn House Office Building 2:00 pm Thank you Chairman Shays for calling this important hearing. You have done yeoman's work in conducting oversight activities on behalf of the men and women of the armed services, both past and present. These real world heroes deserve nothing less. This year, approximately thirty years after our men and women returned from Vietnam, we are still confirming the connection between exposure to Agent Orange and numerous diseases including Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Multiple Myeloma, Peripheral Neuropathy, numerous cancers including lung and prostate cancer, and Type 2 Diabetes. Today, twelve years after the Gulf War, we have over 125,000 veterans who have suffered a myriad of symptoms ranging from chronic flu-like symptoms, rashes, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, headaches, memory loss, loss of concentration, and gastro-intestinal problems. Others have suffered from cancers, heart and lung problems, and Lou Gehrig's Disease. We repeatedly get calls from these veterans who are at a point of total frustration. First, there was a total denial from the Defense Department that there was a Gulf War or Desert Storm Syndrome. Tens of thousands of veterans and active duty military members were told "it was all in their head" or that they were complainers. Then, once Congress got involved, a program to evaluate those with this new syndrome was created. And yet we still heard from these veterans that they would go to the clinics with a myriad of biomedical symptoms and were subjected to repeated psychological evaluations, but received little or no medical care. Of the 115,000 veterans who have turned to the VA for care, how many have actually received a full complement of medical care? How many have been tested for heavy metal toxicity? How many have received chelation therapy to clear the heavy metals from their bodies? Only by providing complete and rigorous medical care are these veterans going to have any chance of returning to good health. We have heard from hundreds of Gulf War veterans. One individual we heard from was Captain Frank Schmuck who recovered from Gulf War Syndrome. Frank was forced to look outside the system for solutions to his health problems. He was eventually tested for mercury and other heavy metal toxicities, and then treated with chelating agents. He has now fully recovered, and is giving his time to help other Gulf War Veterans. Mr. Chairman, as you know, I am concerned about the amount of mercury we use in medicine. I am particularly concerned about the continued use of thimerosal in vaccines. While most children's vaccines are now free of thimerosal, many vaccines that our military members are being given still contain this mercury-containing preservative. Many of the symptoms these veterans display are similar to the known reactions to the vaccines they are routinely given, or to the known symptoms of mercury poisoning. We know from published research that about 16 percent of the military are likely allergic to thimerosal, yet they are routinely exposed to it through their vaccines. Members of the military may be exposed to 110 to 135 micrograms of mercury in one day. The safe one-day exposure for a 180-pound man is about eight micrograms. Even with a ten-fold safety margin, these individuals would be expected to suffer adverse reactions with such a high one-day exposure. When you combine this exposure with exposure to almost three dozen other toxic agents, disease-carrying sand flies, and known endemic diseases in the Middle East, it is no wonder that we have 125,000 ill veterans. The challenges our veterans have faced from Vietnam and the Gulf War beg the question -- What are the Defense Department and Veterans Administration doing differently? Will the changes that have been implemented actually improve the long term health of our veterans? Will the changes gather the needed information to fill gaps in the scientific understanding of health issues connected to military service? If those men and women returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom begin to suffer similar symptoms as those who served in the first Gulf War, will they be treated with more dignity and understanding than their predecessors? When Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 1998, we required that the Defense Department establish a system to evaluate the medical condition of deployed service members. This legislation further required that each deployed service member receive a pre- and post deployment medical examination, an assessment of mental health, and the drawing of blood samples. The law mandates that medical records, including immunizations, be maintained in a centralized location. I am disturbed to learn that it appears that these requirements are not being fully complied with. The Defense Department is substituting a questionnaire filled out by service members for the required medical examination. They are not gathering the required blood samples. Are they tracking the immunizations? These and other important questions need to be answered. I hope that the concerns that I and other members of Congress have will be addressed in today's hearing. Thank you again Chairman Shays for calling this hearing today. 12 March, 2003 Submission for Congressional Testimony My name is Juliana M. Mock, 8917 NE 151st Place, Bothell, Washington 98011 I served in the Persian Gulf with the US Army and the 87th Medical Detachment (Dental Our group of 62 was dispatched into northern Saudi Arabia in mid-December 1990 and was literally assigned an empty grid area to the right of a dead camel. It is at this location that we spent our Christmas holiday; wringing laundry with blistered hands just before the onset of a large sandstorm. It is also at this location that I would hear the first of a succession of chemical alarms go off. As the alarms went off, we simply looked at each other with a cynical snarl; we were cold and isolated in our little camp. Making contact with other camps to relate information was impossible. We thought for certain that the ridiculous alarms must have been faulty; the alarms were reset as we watched in our shirtsleeves. At the end of December my group of 12 dispersed to the 12th Evacuation Hospital along Tapline Road to provide dental support. Located roughly 30 miles from both the Kuwaiti and Iraqi boarders we would be the first hospital open and taking patients. By this time we were instructed to begin taking our expired bromide tablets. As January wore on, we enlisted people carried on with guard duties. Although I am unable to name the dates, there were several occasions when small explosions had taken place certainly within a mile radius of our compound. When I reported these events, I was told that there had been no explosives occurrence despite what I had clearly seen. Several times the chemical alarms went off at the 12th Evac location during the month of March. However, I recall only being ordered to MOP2 when the initial bombing began in January. We returned to Germany in May of 1991. Although I was a bit moody and needed to gain weight, I was otherwise healthy. However, over time I began systematically experiencing odd symptoms: significant sun sensitivity, red skin rashes, itching, hives, night sweats, joint pain, loss of muscle function, hair loss, fatigue, joint nodules. During the last several years I have seen a noted rheumatologist who is quite involved in research in this area. I have submitted to countless blood tests. Nothing in my blood seems to indicate that I should be experiencing any of the symptoms that I present with. I recent months I have had to resort to steroid injections and oral steroid therapy to gain improvement. I received letters in both 1997 and in 2001 from the Secretary of Gulf War Illnesses informing me that I had been exposed to low doses of both sarin and cyclosarin nerve agents. My husband, also an exposed Gulf War veteran, began to piece events together. In 2001, not only was I experiencing significant health problems, but our children had also been diagnosed with a variety of unexplainable neurological challenges. We were devastated. Our challenges remain great. And so do the challenges of our children. |