By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud
(D-Maine)
The recent irresponsible political maneuvering over a bill to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits is just the latest example of how broken Washington is these days. Mainers are rightly asking themselves if it’s possible for Congress to work together and get things done. I’m doing the same.
But I’d like to report on one positive development that took place before this debacle — something that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates could impact thousands of Mainers.
Earlier in December, Congress passed into law a bill that funded a number of federal agencies for Fiscal Year 2012. The bill included an amendment that I worked to pass to increase the amount of funding that goes toward research into Gulf War illnesses, which continue to afflict over a third of all veterans who served during the first Gulf War.
The new $10 million budget made possible through the amendment for the Gulf War Veterans Illnesses Research Program will boost Department of Defense research into treatments. This will begin to live up to the recommendations of a new landmark Institute of Medicine report that called for a major national effort to identify treatments.
This research is critical to fully understanding a wide variety of environmental hazards and harmful substances that our service members may have been exposed to during this war. According to the VA, these include: burn pits; chemical and biological warfare agents; depleted uranium; oil well fires, smoke and petroleum; pesticides and nerve agents; and certain vaccinations for things like anthrax. Sadly, the VA has also found that the risk of birth defects in children of deployed Gulf War male veterans was about 2.2 times that of non-deployed veterans.
Research into these illnesses means a great deal to our state. According to the VA and the Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, approximately 20,000 Mainers served during the Gulf War between 1990 and 2001.
An estimated 250,000 veterans of the first Gulf War continue to suffer from persistent symptoms such as chronic headaches, widespread pain, cognitive difficulties, unexplained fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory symptoms, and other abnormalities that are not explained by traditional medical or psychiatric diagnoses. Research shows that as these veterans age, they are at double risk for ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease as compared to their non-deployed peers. There may also be connections to Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. There are currently no known treatments for the pain these veterans endure.
These veterans put their lives on the line for our country and now they’re suffering a lifetime of pain and a potentially shortened life. I’m hopeful the additional resources made possible through the amendment I worked to pass will help find new treatments that will provide some relief to these veterans who continue to struggle.
According to the VA, a free Gulf War Registry health exam for possible long-term health problems related to Gulf War service is available. The VA says it presumes certain illnesses are related to Gulf War service and that eligible veterans may receive VA disability compensation and health care. Surviving spouses, dependent children and dependent parents of Gulf War veterans who died as the result of illnesses related to Gulf War service may also be eligible for survivors’ benefits. I encourage all Gulf War veterans to contact the VA for more information if they need it.
In addition to the boost for research into Gulf War illnesses, I was also pleased that the funding bill that Congress passed increases overall support of VA programs.
While the nonsense in Washington can be frustrating, at least Congress came together in a bipartisan way to pass this important funding bill for our nation’s veterans. If other priorities could be considered in this way, I know we’d be much better off.
