MICHAEL M.

HONDA

COMMITFEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

17Th DIsTRIcT, CALIFORNIA

SUBCOMMITTEES:

WASHINGTON OFFICE:

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE

LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
EDUCATION

1713 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

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

SENIOR WHIP

http://www.honda.house.gov

SUITE
PHONE
FAX:

670W

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(408) 436-2720
18551 6803759
(4081 4362721

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AMERBDAN CAUCUS, CHAIR EMERmJS

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
COALITION, VICE CHAIR

LGBT EGUALITY CAUCUS,

VICE CHAIR

July 17, 2015

The Honorable Robert McDonald
Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, 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 weapons
experiments conducted by the U.S. military on American troops during and after the
Second World War. We ask that you to redouble your efforts to identify and locate
the survivors of these horrific experiments and compensate them properly as your
department promised to do more than 20 years ago.
In 1993, according to the transcripts of a House Veterans Affairs Committee
hearing, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown, has expressed his personal
commitment to insure that the service men and women included in these
experiments are identified and receive the care that they deserve. Yet according to
a recent report by National Public Radio (NPR), over the course of more than 20
years, the VA has managed to contact only 610 test survivors out of the
approximately 4000 veterans subjected to the most extreme chemical weapons
experiments. Further, according to the NPR report, the VA attempted to contact
those 610 veterans with only a single mailed letter. Meanwhile, a single NPR
librarian working by herself located more than 1200 of those veterans in less than
two months earlier this year, according to the news service.
In fact, in its response to NPR, the VA asked for the contact information for those
survivors. If NPR is willing to share with us the list of 1,200 or so Veterans who
they have been able to identify as having been exposed, VA will attempt to contact
them to ensure they are receiving all the benefits and services to which they are
entitled under the law, reads a statement from the VA, according to NPR. It seems
that the VA did the bare minimum in its attempts to locate the survivors of these
horrific chemical weapons experiments. There was no identifying information... No
Social Security numbers, no addresses, no way of identifying them. Although, we
...

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

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 two
months what the entire department failed to do with the entirety of its resources
over the course of two decades.
To make matters worse, despite the VAs promises to lower the burden of proof to
disburse benefits for the survivors of these chemical weapons experiments, these
veterans are often denied their claims even when documentation exists. One
example cited by NPR is the case of Navy veteran Charlie Cavell. Cavell told NPR that
he requested copies of the records of the experiments he was subjected to at the
Naval Research Laboratory in 1988. The Navys documentation showed details such
as the length of time Cavell spent inside a gas chamber and the level of mustard gas
he was exposed to. But even with the documents as proof, the VA denied Cavells
claim until NPR made inquiries.
There are hundreds of others who are in the same boat, which is completely
unacceptable. These veterans deserve better for their sacrifices, and we urge you to
take immediate action to address this issue. We ask that the VA thoroughly review
all of its records and make a determined effort to contact each surviving veteran. We
further ask that the VA immediately sort out any outstanding, denied, or desired
application for benefits as a result of these barbaric experiments and that the VA
review its claim adjudication process associated with the presumptive connection to
chemical exposure to determine why numerous veterans that reportedly meet the
eligibility criteria have faced multiple rejections, including on appeal.
These veterans were subjected to some of the most barbaric abuses that this
government has ever committed. Theyand their childrenneed to be
compensated for the horrors inflicted upon them. We look forward to your prompt
response.
Sincerely,

~ ~
Michael M. Honda

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