Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - June 22, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 683 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4613.

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and I were originally going to offer an amendment, but we are not going to do that. We are withdrawing the amendment; and instead, we look forward to engaging in a colloquy with the chairman and the ranking member.

Mr. Chairman, the issue that we are discussing today is of extraordinary importance. In the midst of Iraq and Afghanistan, let us never forget that 100,000 veterans from the first Gulf War continue to suffer from a yet not fully understood debilitating illness commonly known as Gulf War Illness.

The gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and I for a number of years have been working together on this issue, and I want to applaud him for his leadership. The fact of the matter is that over the years, while the Congress has appropriated many, many millions of dollars to research and tried to understand Gulf War Illness, in fact, much of that money has not been effective in getting us to better understand this problem.

As many will recall, at the beginning of this discussion, the DOD and the VA were both saying, hey, there is no problem; and then more and more veterans came forward and they said, well, there is a problem, but it is stress related. Finally, after many, many years, I think both the VA and the DOD now understand that we have a very serious physical problem.

Mr. Chairman, I am happy to inform my colleagues that the good news is that real progress is now being made in our understanding of Gulf War Illness. Medical researchers like Dr. Robert Haley of the University of Texas and other researchers can now measure real physical neurological damage in many Gulf War Illness sufferers. These injuries are likely the result of low-level exposure to chemical nerve agents during the first Gulf War. Much of the evidence suggests that exposure to these nerve agents is the direct result of the destruction of a major chemical weapons dump in Iraq by the U.S. military that created a plume of chemicals that may have exposed hundreds of thousands of U.S. military personnel and civilians in the region.

In hearings held by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) in the last couple of weeks, we heard from Dr. Haley about the status of his research. Dr. Haley's findings were corroborated at the hearing by Dr. Paul Greengard, a 2000 Nobel Laureate and head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at the Rockefeller University. He agreed that research into neurological damage caused by low-level nerve agents is the most promising in terms of finding a cause and a treatment for Gulf War Illness.

There has also been a change in attitude in the Pentagon and the VA about this illness. It appears that both now acknowledge that this is a very real physical injury. Secretary of VA Anthony Principi has taken an active interest in supporting Gulf War Illness research and has committed $15 million to continuing the fight.

Mr. Chairman, I would introduce into the RECORD at this point a letter from Jim Binns, who is the chairman of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, who supports this line of research.

VA EASTERN KANSAS
HEALTHCARE SYSTEM,
Topeka, KS, June 22, 2004.

Hon. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS,
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN:

Thank you for the opportunity to testify before your subcommittee on June 1. As you could tell from the hearing, we are at a moment of truth on Gulf War illnesses. On the one hand, the science is finally there to show that this is a medical problem, an important component of which is neurological in nature. Furthermore, researchers like Dr. Paul Greengard of Rockefeller University are waiting in the wings with projects that have a real chance of producing a cure. As you know, Dr. Greengard received the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2000 for his work to uncover the brain mechanisms involved in Parkinsons disease and to develop a treatment for that disease, and he testified that the same approach can succeed in Gulf War illnesses. In response to these new scientific findings, research managers at VA and DoD recognize the opportunity to pursue this type of research.

On the other hand, while Secretary Principi is going to increase VA funding to $15 million, DoD, which has historically funded three-quarters of Gulf War illnesses research, is currently funding no new projects in this area because of its internal priorities. In addition to the financial implications, this withdrawal of DoD from Gulf War illnesses research dramatically limits the universe of researchers whose talents can be brought to bear, because VA by law can only fund VA internal research. Unlike DoD or NIH, VA cannot give grants to outside researchers. Thus, researchers like Dr. Greengard and others who have done important, DoD-funded work in the past, cannot be funded with the possible exception of minor sub-contractor roles. Other respected scientists with relevant expertise similarly cannot be engaged unless they work for VA. So just as there is finally something solid to research, and a willingness on the part of the research managers to spend in the right places, funding is dramatically down, and the cadre of potential researchers is dramatically limited.

On behalf of the membership of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, I urgently request you to seek an amendment to the DoD appropriations bill to provide $30 million to the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for Gulf War illnesses research in FY 2005. I have been told that Gulf War illnesses formerly was a line item in the DoD budget, in the period when federal spending was at the $45 million annual level (direct and indirect) in 1999-2002.

It would also be constructive to include language requiring that ninety percent of this funding be placed with non-governmental researchers, that DoD develop with VA and NIH (specifically the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) a comprehensive federal research plan for Gulf War veterans illnesses, and that DoD seek the input and review of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses in the creation of this plan and decisions on which research to fund in pursuit of the plan.

I apologize not to have brought this matter to your attention earlier, but our energies have been focuses on VA. Thank you for your consideration of this request at this critical juncture.

Respectfully,

JAMES H. BINNS,
Chairman, Research Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses.

Mr. Chairman, I would also enter into the RECORD at this point a letter from Ross Perot, who has been one of the leaders on this issue over the years, who also understands that we are dealing with neurological illness.

PLANO, TX,
June 22, 2004.
Congressmen BERNIE SANDERS and CHRIS SHAYS,
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC.

DEAR CONGRESSMEN SANDERS AND SHAYS:

As you both know, I have long been active in promoting and funding research to find treatments and a cure for Gulf War Illness-which now affects over 100,000 veterans of the first Gulf War.

In recent years, great strides have been made in our understanding of the actual physical harm that these veterans have suffered. Researchers like Dr. Haley and others have been able to detect brain damage that likely resulted from exposure to low levels of sarin nerve agents.
While the advances have been impressive, so much more still needs to be done. That is why I am pleased to support your amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill to provide $30 million in Gulf War Illness research.

Not only will this type of research help victims of Gulf War Illness, but it could provide us with knowledge that would increase our ability to defend soldiers and civilians against future chemical attacks.

This research could also provide clues to other illnesses in both the military and civilian context that may be caused by low level chemical exposure.

Once again, I strongly support this amendment and look forward to working together to end the terrible suffering that so many Gulf War veterans are suffering.

Sincerely,

ROSS PEROT.

Mr. Chairman, I now move into the colloquy between the chairman and the ranking member, if I might.

Am I correct that the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) are committing to work with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and me to secure additional funding for Gulf War Illness research when the bill goes to conference?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SANDERS. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Vermont and the gentleman from Connecticut have both been very active in the fight for a cure and treatment of Gulf War Illness for many years, and the committee will work with both of them to increase funding for research in this area.

Mr. SANDERS. Does that commitment include the gentleman's willingness to support higher funding for Gulf War Illness research that might be included in the Senate version of the bill?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Yes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, would the gentlemen be willing to work with the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and me to develop conference report language that would indicate the conference's expectation that the Department of Defense make a significant commitment to continue the breakthrough research which has recently indicated that the neurological damage associated with Gulf War Illness is caused by low-level chemical exposure?

Mr. LEWIS of California. Yes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha) very, very much for their support for this important breakthrough.

Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SANDERS. I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

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