'Operation Desert Storm's veterans deserve the best'

By Hillary Rodham Clinton

For most Americans, the Persian Gulf War, fought nearly six years ago, is a distant memory. But for thousands of brave men and women who served our country in Operation Desert Storm, the experience lingers in a variety of undiagnosed illnesses -- from rashes to respiratory problems to headaches to gastrointestinal disorders -- that befell them when they came home.

Over the last four years, Bill (Clinton) and I have received many heart-wrenching and haunting letters from Gulf War veterans and their families. Many veterans told us they felt that their country had forgotten them, that America was not doing enough to help them become healthy again.

So in the fall of 1994, the President asked me to explore issues surrounding the health needs of our Gulf War veterans and to look into ways to improve the federal government's efforts to address their concerns.

I spoke with many veterans on the phone, in my office and at military and veterans' hospitals. I listened as they tried to describe what it was like to live day after day, year after year, not knowing why they had become sick. I heard stories of hard- working men and women who could no longer keep steady jobs and support their families because of their illnesses. One veteran officer who had been diagnosed as 100 percent disabled told me about the healthy and active life he had led before his tour in the Persian Gulf and about his frustration in seeking effective treatments for his symptoms.

I also met with officials from the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services to determine if we were doing the very best we could to respond to our veterans and to facilitate research into their illnesses. Representatives of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars shared their own observations and told me of their efforts to bring attention to these illnesses. Almost two years ago, I reported to the President on these findings.

Bill then asked some of our nation's best doctors and scientists, as well as Gulf War veterans themselves, to form a Presidential Advisory Committee that could provide an open, thorough and independent review of the government's response to veterans' health concerns.

I had the privilege of testifying at the first meeting of this committee in August 1995. And earlier this week, I watched as the committee presented its final report to the President.

The committee found that, overall, the government had acted responsibly and comprehensively. In 1994, the President signed legislation that pays disability benefits to eligible gulf War veterans with undiagnosed illnesses. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs established toll-free lines and medical evaluation programs. Gulf War veterans have received more that 80,000 free medical exams. The government has approved more than 26,000 disability claims and sponsored more that 70 research projects to identify the possible causes of the illnesses.

But the committee also noted areas for improvement, especially in the realm of building trust and strengthening the lines of communication between veterans and the government agencies that serve them. It expressed concern that the Defense Department had not investigated possible chemical weapons exposure thoroughly enough in the past.

As a result, the Defense Department has intensified its investigation into this issue, tracking down veterans who may have been exposed to chemical agents and devoting millions of dollars to researching the possible effects of low-level chemical exposure. The Defense Department and the CIA have declassified 23,000 pages of documents and placed them on the Internet. And a review of more than five million pages of Gulf War documents has already yielded some evidence that our troops may have been exposed to chemical agents.

In the years since the Gulf War, there has been no shortage of opinions, theories and explanations about the health problems of veterans who served our country. But at least we can agree that we need to do whatever it takes to bring good health and peace of mind to the men and women who fought on our behalf thousands of miles from home.

As the President said this week at the White House, "They served their country with courage and skill and strength, and they must now know that they can rely upon us. And we must not, and will not, let them down."

-- Creators Syndicate