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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 24, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak

Sen. Hutchison Praises VA Report on Gulf War Illness
Calls on Congress to Renew Research Efforts amid Heightened Awareness


WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R–TX), Texas’ senior Senator, today commended the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses for their extensive, 450-page report that brings together the full range of scientific research and government investigations on Gulf War illness. The comprehensive analysis resolves many questions about what caused Gulf War illness and what should be done to address this serious condition, which affects at least one in four Gulf War veterans.

“I have worked tirelessly in the Senate and with advocates in Texas to provide funding for research and treatment for our courageous Gulf War veterans,” said Sen. Hutchison. “I commend Ross Perot Jr. for funding many of the research efforts in the beginning. This report vindicates many of our veterans and their families who felt their pleas for help were being ignored.”

In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Conference Report, Sen. Hutchison directed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to spend at least $15 million of Gulf War Illness research in FY 2006 and in each of the next four fiscal years, for a total of $75 million. The results of the efforts will help protect the military and civilians from such chemical agent exposure in the future and provide vital basic knowledge from which treatments can be developed.

This research has been conducted in partnership with the University of Texas Southwestern’s Gulf War Illness “Center of Excellence.” UT Southwestern’s Gulf War Illness Research Program began in 1994 with initial funding support from the Perot Foundation of Dallas and has received funding from the Department of Defense since 1997.

Report Highlights

· At least one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffers from a multisymptom illness believed to be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during the conflict.

· The report urges Congress to spend at least $60 million annually on research, and notes no effective treatments have been found.

· The Committee said in a 2004 draft report that many of the veterans were suffering from neurological damage and pointed to toxic chemicals as a possible cause.

· Report goes further by pinpointing known causes, and it criticizes past U.S. studies, which have cost more than $340 million, as “overly simplistic and compartmentalized.”

The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses is a panel of prominent scientists and distinguished veterans charged with reviewing federal research related to the health of Gulf War veterans. The Committee was mandated by Congress and is appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.



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