January 24, 2002
The book and film Blackhawk Down vividly
depict the unique physical and moral hazards of modern
warfare. In the twisted streets
of Mogadishu, Somalia, elite U.S. Army Rangers fought, and died, to redeem
their pledge never to leave a fallen comrade
behind.
That same debt of honor is owed to the men and women from the coalition of nations who fought, and prevailed, in the toxic battlefields of the Persian Gulf War. So today we ask again if the delayed casualties of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield are being left behind by a stunted research effort to find the causes and cures of their war-related illnesses.
In our previous hearings on management
of the joint Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) research portfolio, witnesses raised troubling questions about the reach
and rigor or an increasingly expensive, if not expansive, research
program. These questions
persist.
Why does it appear privately funded studies have yielded more tangible results and more promising hypotheses than federal projects? Does the interagency review process ignore, or actively stifle, research that does not conform to preconceived notions of a war without lingering toxic after effects? Is the federal research agenda skewed toward long-term epidemiological studies at the expense of the clinical data needed now by Gulf War veterans and their doctors? What is known about the health of veterans from other coalition nations? Are different approaches by other nations to the use of pesticides, vaccines and experimental drugs being studied for clues to explain veterans' susceptibilities and symptoms?
Befitting the importance of the questions
under discussion, we are joined this morning by
an impressive list of witnesses, all of whom share a commitment to improving
the health of Gulf War veterans.
VA Secretary Anthony Principi yesterday signaled a willingness to
accelerate and broaden the research effort by appointing an Advisory Committee
bringing new voices and new perspectives to these
issues. The DOD Assistant Secretary
for Health Affairs will discuss health monitoring of Gulf War veterans and
efforts to translate the medical lessons, and mistakes, of that war into
better force health protection in the current, and future,
conflicts. We welcome their
participation.
Witnesses from the General Accounting Office will discuss their ongoing work, undertaken at the Subcommittee's request, to assess differences in health monitoring, health outcomes and defensive strategies among Gulf War coalition members.
We appreciate their work on behalf of all Gulf War veterans and we look forward to continued international cooperation on research and treatment protocols. The coalition that prevailed against Saddam Hussein still has men and women battling for their lives. They cannot be left behind.
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