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Examining the Status of Gulf War Research and Investigations on Gulf War Illnesses Tuesday, June 01, 2004 1:00 PM



Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, will convene an oversight hearing June 1 to assess the status of research on Gulf War illnesses and discuss General Accounting Office (GAO) findings regarding Persian Gulf War veterans? exposures to chemical warfare agents.

The hearing will convene Tuesday, June 1, 2004, 1:00 pm in room 2154 of the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C.

"Low-level exposures to sarin may play a role in the illnesses and syndromes suffered by more than 125,000 American veterans of the first Gulf War," Shays said. "For those veterans, and for those fighting in toxic environments today, only an aggressive research agenda will produce the answers needed to protect or cure yesterday?s, today?s and tomorrow?s warriors."

Veterans from the United Kingdom have also suffered the range of illnesses and symptoms often called "Gulf War Syndrome." Lord Alfred Morris of Manchester, a former UK Minister of War Pensions, has been an active advocate for Gulf War veterans. As he did in January 2002, Lord Morris will join the Subcommittee in reviewing the status of research into Gulf War exposures and treatments.

Shays said, "Studies indicate our Coalition partners from the UK and elsewhere were also operating in the path of toxic plumes. We welcome Lord Morris? expertise as the Subcommittee examines the international research effort to diagnose and treat the health effects of battlefield exposures."

In recent years VA and DOD funding for Gulf War Illnesses research has decreased, despite the appointment of a new VA Research Advisory Committee. The GAO is expected to testify that the VA has not reassessed the extent to which the current portfolio has addressed key research questions. The last time VA did an assessment was in 2000, when only half of pending research studies were complete.

Committee on Government Reform

Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations

"Examining the Status of Gulf War Research and Investigations on Gulf War Illnesses"

(June 1, 2004)

Witness List

PANEL ONE

Mr. Jim Bunker
Chairman, Veteran Information Network
Gulf War Veteran
Topeka, Kansas

Dr. Derek Hall
Gulf War Veteran
United Kingdom

Dr. Janet Heinrich
Director, Health Care-Public Health Issues
General Accounting Office

Dr. Keith Rhodes
Chief General Accounting Office Technologist
General Accounting Office

Mr. Jim Binns
Chairman
Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses

Mr. Steve Robinson
Executive Director
National Gulf War Resource Center, Inc.

PANEL TWO

Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin
Acting Under Secretary for Health and Acting Chief Research and Development Officer
Department of Veterans Affairs

Accompanied by:

Dr. Mindy L. Aisen
Deputy Chief Research and Development Officer
Department of Veterans Affairs

Dr. Craig Hyams
Chief Consultant, Occupational and Environmental Health
Department of Veterans Affairs

Major General Lester Martinez-Lopez
Commanding General of U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
Fort Detrik, Maryland

Dr. Robert Haley
Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Rogene Henderson
Senior Scientist
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute

Dr. Paul Greengard
Vincent Astor Professor and Head of Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
The Rockefeller University
Nobel Laureate 2000