S. HRG. 107–792 MILITARY EXPOSURES: THE CONTINUING CHALLENGES OF CARE AND COMPENSATION

HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 10, 2002

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83–281 PDF WASHINGTON : 2002

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman BOB GRAHAM, Florida ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania JAMES M. JEFFORDS (I), Vermont STROM THURMOND, South Carolina DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska PAUL WELLSTONE, Minnesota BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado PATTY MURRAY, Washington LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho ZELL MILLER, Georgia TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas MARY J. SCHOELEN, Deputy Staff Director, Benefits Programs/General Counsel WILLIAM F. TUERK, Minority Chief Counsel and Staff Director

(II) CONTENTS

JULY 10, 2002

SENATORS

Page Nelson, Hon. Bill, U.S. Senator from Florida, prepared statement ...... 4 Rockefeller Hon. John D., IV, U.S. Senator from West Virginia, prepared statement ...... 8 Specter, Hon. Arlen, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, prepared statement ...... 1 WITNESSES Cole, Leonard A., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ ...... 55 Prepared statement ...... 57 Cooper, Hon. Daniel L., Under Secretary for Benefits, Department of Vet- erans Affairs; accompanied by Robert Epley, Associate Deputy Under Sec- retary for Policy and Program Management, Veterans Benefits Administra- tion, and Susan Mather, M.D., Chief Officer, Public Health and Environ- mental Hazards ...... 9 Prepared statement ...... 11 Schwartz, Linda Spoonster, Chair, VVA Healthcare Committee, Vietnam Vet- erans of America, joint prepared statement ...... 42 Smithson, Steven R., Assistant Director, National Veterans Affairs and Reha- bilitation Commission, The American Legion ...... 50 Prepared statement ...... 52 Weidman, Richard F., Director of Government Relations, Vietnam Veterans of America; accompanied by Linda Spoonster Schwartz, Ph.D., Chair, Viet- nam Veterans of America Healthcare Committee ...... 39 Joint prepared statement ...... 42 Winkenwerder, William, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense; accompanied by Ellen Embrey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness, and Mi- chael E. Kilpatrick, M.D., Director, Deployment Support, Force Health Pro- tection and Readiness ...... 14 Prepared statement ...... 16 APPENDIX Campbell, Hon. Ben Nighthorse, U.S. Senator from Colorado, prepared state- ment ...... 61 Hayden, Paul A., Deputy Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, prepared statement ...... 70 Ilem, Joy J., Assistant National Legislative Director, Disabled American Vet- erans, prepared statement ...... 61 Love, Kirt P., President, Desert Storm Battle Registry, joint prepared state- ment ...... 64 Lyons, Paul, President, Desert Storm Justice Foundation, joint prepared statement ...... 64 National Gulf War Resource Center, prepared statement ...... 66 Wolf, Dannie, President, American Veteran Justice Foundation, joint pre- pared statement ...... 64

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MILITARY EXPOSURES: THE CONTINUING CHALLENGES OF CARE AND COMPENSATION

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2002

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:42 a.m., in room SR– 418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter, presiding. Present: Senators Rockefeller, Wellstone, Nelson, and Specter. Also present: Senator Nelson of Florida. Senator SPECTER [presiding]. Good morning, ladies and gentle- men. Senator