MICHAEL M. HONDA COMMITFEE ON APPROPRIATIONS17Th DIsTRIcT, CALIFORNIA SUBCOMMITTEES:

WASHINGTON OFFICE: COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCELABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,1713 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING EDUCATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20515PHONE: 12021 2252631FAX: 12021 2252699 SENIOR WHIP

http://www.honda.house.gov

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PHONE (408) 436-2720 ~OU~C of ~acprt~cntatibc~ COALITION, VICE CHAIR18551 6803759 LGBT EGUALITY CAUCUS,

FAX: (4081 4362721 VICE CHAIR

July 17, 2015

The Honorable Robert McDonaldSecretaryDepartment of Veterans Affairs810 Vermont Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary McDonald:

We are deeply concerned by reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)has failed to provide promised benefits to the survivors of chemical weaponsexperiments conducted by the U.S. military on American troops during and after theSecond World War. We ask that you to redouble your efforts to identify and locatethe survivors of these horrific experiments and compensate them properly as yourdepartment promised to do more than 20 years ago.

In 1993, according to the transcripts of a House Veterans Affairs Committeehearing, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown, has expressed his personalcommitment to insure that the service men and women included in theseexperiments are identified and receive the care that they deserve. Yet according toa recent report by National Public Radio (NPR), over the course of more than 20years, the VA has managed to contact only 610 test survivors out of theapproximately 4000 veterans subjected to the most extreme chemical weaponsexperiments. Further, according to the NPR report, the VA attempted to contactthose 610 veterans with only a single mailed letter. Meanwhile, a single NPRlibrarian working by herself located more than 1200 of those veterans in less thantwo months earlier this year, according to the news service.

In fact, in its response to NPR, the VA asked for the contact information for thosesurvivors. If NPR is willing to share with us the list of 1,200 or so Veterans whothey have been able to identify as having been exposed, VA will attempt to contactthem to ensure they are receiving all the benefits and services to which they areentitled under the law, reads a statement from the VA, according to NPR. It seemsthat the VA did the bare minimum in its attempts to locate the survivors of thesehorrific chemical weapons experiments. There was no identifying information... NoSocial Security numbers, no addresses, no ... way of identifying them. Although, we

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tried, Brad Flohr, a VA senior adviser for benefits, told NPR during an interview.The VA must explain why one NPR librarian singlehandedly accomplished in twomonths what the entire department failed to do with the entirety of its resourcesover the course of two decades.

To make matters worse, despite the VAs promises to lower the burden of proof todisburse benefits for the survivors of these chemical weapons experiments, theseveterans are often denied their claims even when documentation exists. Oneexample cited by NPR is the case of Navy veteran Charlie Cavell. Cavell told NPR thathe requested copies of the records of the experiments he was subjected to at theNaval Research Laboratory in 1988. The Navys documentation showed details suchas the length of time Cavell spent inside a gas chamber and the level of mustard gashe was exposed to. But even with the documents as proof, the VA denied Cavellsclaim until NPR made inquiries.

There are hundreds of others who are in the same boat, which is completelyunacceptable. These veterans deserve better for their sacrifices, and we urge you totake immediate action to address this issue. We ask that the VA thoroughly reviewall of its records and make a determined effort to contact each surviving veteran. Wefurther ask that the VA immediately sort out any outstanding, denied, or desiredapplication for benefits as a result of these barbaric experiments and that the VAreview its claim adjudication process associated with the presumptive connection tochemical exposure to determine why numerous veterans that reportedly meet theeligibility criteria have faced multiple rejections, including on appeal.

These veterans were subjected to some of the most barbaric abuses that thisgovernment has ever committed. Theyand their childrenneed to becompensated for the horrors inflicted upon them. We look forward to your promptresponse.

Sincerely,

~~Michael M. Honda

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