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March 29, 2006
 
Abercrombie supports State Senate resolutions on Veterans Right to Know 
 
Washington, DC -- Congressman Abercrombie expressed his support today for two Hawaii State Senate resolutions expressing support for a Congressional bill authorizing investigations of Cold War-era chemical and biological warfare tests which often involved military personnel who were unaware of the nature of the tests they participated in.

S.R. 114 and SCR 170 requests the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Veterans' Right to Know Act (H.R. 4259).  The measure establishes the Veterans' Right to Know Commission to: (1) investigate chemical or biological warfare tests or projects, especially those carried out between 1954 and 1973, placing particular emphasis on actions or conditions that could have contributed to health risks to any civilian or military personnel who participated in such a test or project or were otherwise potentially exposed to a biological or chemical agent as a result; and (2) report to Congress on its findings and recommendations.

Abercrombie is a cosponsor of the Veterans Right to Know Act.

“I welcome this encouragement for our efforts in Congress on behalf of veterans here in Hawaii and across the country,” said Abercrombie.  “Although these events lie far in the past, there is good reason to believe the health effects are being felt today.  We owe it to our men and women in uniform- past and present- to be open and honest about any and all information that may have a bearing on service connected health problems.”

 

Abercrombie is also the principal sponsor of the Atomic Veterans Relief Act (H.R. 2962).

 

That measure simplifies the standards of proof for veterans claiming disability as a result of exposure to atomic radiation in nuclear tests or, in some cases, their presence in Hiroshima or Nagasaki in the early months of the post-World War II U.S. occupation of

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