Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 586, the Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act, as amended.

Liver fluke is a serious parasitic infection that is a well- recognized risk factor for the development of bile duct cancer.

H.R. 586, as amended, would require VA, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to commence an epidemiological study on the prevalence of bile duct cancer in veterans who served in the Vietnam war versus their nonveteran U.S. resident counterparts.

This legislation requires VA to submit a report with the results of the study broken out by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic location.

I certainly understand why Vietnam war veterans would be concerned about their exposure to this disease and believe we should do everything possible to ensure veterans have access to care and treatment for diseases they may have been exposed to as a part of their service. However, I must note that the context in which we are considering this legislation is vastly different than the last time the bill was considered by the House just under 7 months ago.

In fact, under Secretary Kennedy's leadership in the past week, the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control, has cut 18 percent of its workforce. Many of these roles have been in global and environmental health roles, which means the individuals in offices best suited to assist with the requirements of this bill may no longer even exist at the CDC.

Vietnam war veterans deserve answers about their health and access to the best treatments. Under this administration's chaotic and damaging workforce cuts across all sectors of government, it will be harder than ever to get these answers.

I will support this bill today, but I urge my colleagues to consider that implementation of this bill will be harder than it needs to be in the new CDC workforce realities that we are now in. These workforce cuts have real and lasting consequences, including for our veterans.

In addition, while I support the underlying goals of this measure, I must express concern over the majority's decision to offset its cost by diverting pension payments from some of the VA's oldest and sickest veterans.

The VA pension programs exist specifically to assist our most vulnerable veterans and their survivors. Slashing these benefits, particularly when other support systems are also under threat, poses a significant risk for those who rely on them most.

I recognize that this offset has been employed historically and in some form since the 1960s. However, in light of this administration's ongoing efforts, enabled by a complacent Republican-led Congress, to systematically weaken VA, we must reevaluate whether it remains appropriate to rely on this offset. I believe it would be prudent to discuss with the Senate whether a more appropriate offset can be identified before this bill becomes law.

Mr. Speaker, with those caveats I have identified, I support this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to do the same.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 586, the Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source