Dear Gulf War Toxic Casualty Client:
This status report is coming to you now, rather than waiting until the end of the year, because you may be able to change the course of events affecting you by writing a letter in the next few days. In particular, I am referring to the distinct possibility that you and other Gulf War veterans may be pushed out of being able to claim against the frozen Iraqi money by the tobacco industry interests.
The U. S. Treasury Department, Foreign Assets Control has confirmed to me that the Iraqi assets in the U.S., frozen at the time of the invasion in August, 1990, are still frozen, drawing interest, and amount to about $1.2 Billion. The Foreign Claim Settlement Commission (“FCSC,” a subdivision of the Justice Department) attorney David Bradley told me today when I called him that there is pending recent legislation, H.R. 1757, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1998-99, that is already in Conference Committee, that would give the Iraqi money to the FCSC to distribute. The House version says nothing about the Iraqi money. The Senate version, which is Senator Jesse Helm’s version as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gives the frozen Iraqi money to the FCSC, but does not include the Gulf War veterans as those who can claim against it! This is despite and contrary to the FCSC registration form in 1996, which specifically included “all claims of U.S. military personnel or their survivors which arose out of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.” Almost all of you have previously registered with the FCSC. Senator Helm’s bill would only give the Iraqi money to contractual claims (mainly Iraqi debts to tobacco and grain companies) and those injured people arising from the U.S.S. Stark incident before the Gulf War. Senator Helm’s version completely ignores and cuts out the ill Gulf War veterans and their families. His version would obviously increase the amount of money that the tobacco companies from his State of North Carolina will recover from the Iraqi money that is available to pay for claims. Unless opposition builds to this, and quickly, Congress will pass this bill; and the President will sign it, without either of them or the public really knowing of the controversy or the injustice that the bill contains.
As soon as possible, and today if possible, you should write a letter expressing in your own words why you think the proposed law, H.R. 1757, which would exclude the Gulf vets, is unfair. You might point out that large tobacco companies just got a multi-billion dollar tax cut from Congress. They do not need this money. With a shrinking VA budget, and no cure in sight, the 100,000 to 150,000 ill Gulf War veterans do need the money. It is appropriate to be passionate though respectfully so in your letter. Tell them that you do expect a reply and that this issue will affect how you and other veterans will vote in the future. You should send the letter to the President, both of your State’s U.S. Senators and the U.S. Representative for your Congressional District. You should reprint the letter to each directly, though the text of the letter will not have to change. Their addresses are:
Honorable William Jefferson Clinton Honorable (your U.S. Representative’s name)
President of the United States of America Member of Congress
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. House Office Buildings
Washington, D.C. 20500 Washington, D.C. 20515
(Dear Mr. President:) (Dear Congressman (or Congresswoman)____:)
Honorable (your Senator’s name) (then the same letter to your other Senator)
United States Senator
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(Dear Senator_____:)
You can call your local library to find out your Senator and Representative’s full names, and they can give you a more exact address and zip code for them.
The particular Senators and Congressmen who will be deciding on this bill in the Conference Committee are listed below. They are the most important ones to focus on. So, if one of them is from your State or District, please write and call their office. They will be meeting on this bill during the middle or latter half of this month, in the next couple of weeks. The bill that they agree on will be presented to the entire Congress, and usually passes. If you are not in their State or District, still write to them on behalf of veterans in their State or District who do not know about the bill, if you wish to.
House Conferees Senate Conferees
Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
Jim Leach (R-Iowa) Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.)
Bill Goodling (R-Penn.) Joseph Biden, Jr. (D-Del.)
Paul Gilmor (R-Ohio) Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.)
Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
Howard Berman (D-Calif.) Rod Grams (R-Minn.)
Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)
Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.)
Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.)
Christopher Smith (R-N.J.)
Congress is trying to conclude all of the appropriations bills by the end of this month. So time is of the essence on this. Good luck on your effort to influence the process in the proper direction. Since there are more than 2,000 of you that this letter is going to, your letters to the President and Congress may bring enough attention to this issue to turn it around. You may be able to get other veterans, friends and family members to also write or call Congress in the next week or two.
I am contacting members of the press about this development, and please feel free to do the same. I believe the American people will side with us if they realize what is happening. My comment to the press on this was: “To cut out the courageous Gulf War veterans who have been ill since the war, to ignore the plight of their long-suffering families, and to reward and prefer instead of them the somewhat ignoble profits of the tobacco industry would be a grotesque injustice which our country would be ashamed of.”
Since my last status report, on 12-21-96, the following relevant events have occurred:
1-08-97 The final report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses became public, slamming the Pentagon for initially ignoring the problem, and urged intensified research to find causes of the illness. The report emphasized stress rather than chemical weapons as a likely major contributing factor to the illnesses. But it said there was clear evidence that some U.S. troops had been exposed to chemical agents during and after the war (N.Y. Times, Chicago Tribune).
1-08-97 President Clinton stated “I believe that there are a lot of veterans who got sick as a result of their service in the Gulf. We will do whatever we can and whatever it takes to research Gulf War Illnesses as thoroughly as possible” (N.Y. Times, Chicago Tribune).
1-08-97 Gulf War Illness is genuine and appears to be caused by neurological damage from chemical exposure during the conflict, a team of researchers in Dallas announced. Dr. Robert Haley, Chief of Epidemiology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Tom Kurt, a toxicologist, and Dr. Jim Hom, a neuro-psychologist, led the work which was published, in three lead articles, in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (“JAMA”) on January 15, 1997 (Dallas Morning News). You may find more information at the U.T. Southwestern website, which is http://www.swmed.edu.
1-22-97 For the first time, the V.A., acknowledged that there appeared to be a direct link between exposure to chemical agents close to Kamisiyah and arthritis-like joint symptoms. This appeared in a limited sampling of soldiers (N.Y. Times).
2-11-97 Dr. Bert LaDu, professor of pharmacology at University of Michigan Medical School explained that an inborn genetic difference in only one of the scores of amino acids that make up a human enzyme could make some soldiers more susceptible to organophosphate chemicals (such as nerve gas and pesticide) (Detroit News).
2-26-97 82nd Airborne, 37th Eng.Bn., engineers that blew up Khamisiyah never received advance warning that it contained chemical weapons. Information from the CIA, on February 26, 1991, that there were “possible chemicals” there was received by 18th Airborne Corps, but never got passed to the 82nd Airborne (N.Y. Times).
2-28-97 The Pentagon said that all full copies of the CENTCOM chemical warfare logs maintained during the war had disappeared, even though copies on paper and computer disks had been stored after the war in locked safes at two different locations in the U.S. The DOD said that after an exhaustive search only 36 of the estimated 200 pages of classified logs could now be found (N.Y. Times).
3-04-97 The Pentagon announced it had asked the DOD’s inspector general to investigate the disappearance of about 80% of the Gulf War chemical-detection logs. The missing logs include the March 4 through March 10 period when Khamisiyah was blown up, among other time periods (N.Y. Times).
3-06-97 Defense Secretary Cohen said that the Pentagon is engaged in a “very thorough, very honest effort to get to the facts” about the health problems among Gulf veterans (N.Y. Times).
3-08-97 President Clinton lengthened by eight years, until December 31, 2001, the period in which Gulf War veterans with undiagnosed illnesses can apply for government medical benefits. Previously veterans had to prove that their disabilities emerged within two years after the war in order to apply (N. Y. Times).
5-06-97 Dr. Howard Urnovitz, a microbiologist, revealed research indicating Gulf War toxins - including chemical and biological weapons, oil field smoke and pesticides - may attack genetically weak chromosomes in some people, breaking down their immune system and facilitating certain diseases (USA Today).
6-23-97 The U.S. General Accounting Office released their study which points towards chemical exposure as accounting for “Gulf War Illnesses.” The report outlines the current status of scientific research. You may obtain a free copy of this 140 page report by calling (202) 512-6000, (Press 1) (Press 8), and ask for the GAO report on Gulf War Illnesses, which is GAO/NSIAD-97-163.
7-24-97 The Pentagon revised their estimate of how many American troops were exposed to low levels of chemical agent from the detonation of the Khamisiyah bunkers to about 100,000 (AP, N.Y. Times, Washington Post).
7-30-97 U.N. inspectors reported that the U.S. bombed a second large Iraqi ammunition depot containing chemical weapons (the Urkhaydir depot) that was located much closer to Saudi Arabia than Khamisiyah was (AP).
7-31-97 The Pentagon denounced a new previously unpublicized top-secret report prepared for the DOD that found hundreds, if not thousands of Marines might have been exposed to chemical weapons when they crossed Iraqi minefields into Kuwait. The $2 million report, was described by the Pentagon as “sloppy” and “a wild goose chase” (N.Y. Times).
8-01-97 U.T. Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas announced new published research showing the Gulf veterans are suffering from brain damage from toxic exposure, not stress (see copy of attached article).
08-04-97 It was revealed that the Air Force was told in a report by Livermore National Laboratories three months before the air war began that bombing Iraq’s chemical facilities would release chemical agents that would blow back onto American troops (see copy of attached article).
8-15-97 Gen. Schwartkopf denied that the report revealed the day before was ever brought to his attention during the war, and he said he asked if there was any risk repeatedly (see copy of attached article).
8-19-97 In a dramatic reversal, 5 of the 11 members of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses said they will urge that the panel reverse and conclude that Iraqi chemical weapons may be an important factor in veterans’ health problems (see copy of attached article).
Also, in mid-1997 ex-CIA analyst, Warren Eddington’s book, “Gassed in the Gulf” was published. Info about it is at http://www.insigniausa.com/.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs “Persian Gulf Veterans’ Illnesses” website is at http:www.va.gov./health/environ/persgulf.htm.
I recommend taking a look at Jim Tuite, III’s website. It is at http://www.chronicillnet.org/pgws/tuite. Mr. Tuite is the former Senate investigator who drafted the “Reigle Reports” and has stayed at the forefront of the ongoing investigation.
The litigation against the chemical warfare and biological warfare suppliers to Saddam is going forward pretty much as expected. On August 29, 1997, Judge Hardin signed a new Scheduling Order which commits the Court to decide by January 9, 1998, all pending motions on jurisdiction and motions to transfer venue. After the jurisdictional issues are decided, the focus will shift to the merits of the case and the issue of whether this case will be certified as a class action by the Court. On December 8, 1998, all counsel will have to appear at a docket call at which time the case will be set for trial. My guess is that we are still probably two to two and a half years from trial.
I expect that sometime in early 1998 the Court is going to allow the Defendants to serve a set of written questions and requests for production of documents on you through us. In anticipation of that, please try to obtain a copy of your medical records since the war, if you have not already done so. We do not need a copy of them sent to us yet, but we will need them probably early next year. It would help us if you put them in reverse chronological order with the most recent papers on top.
Since the Judge will be making decisions on the jurisdictional questions in mid-January, 1998, I will not write to you in a Christmas card this year, but will write to you again after mid-January, to let you know the Court’s ruling on the jurisdictional issues, and to otherwise bring you up-to-date.
I appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you in this matter.
Best regards.
Gary B. Pitts
GBP\mb
Enclosures
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