National Gulf War Resource Center Update

by Paul Sullivan, Director

(The following is excerpted from the September 1997 issue of "Common Sense," the newsletter of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, published by the Kentucky Environmental Foundation.)

The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) has scheduled its 1997 National Conference for Atlanta, Georgia on November 7-9, 1997 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, 1900 Sullivan Road, phone: (770) 997- 1100. Those wishing to attend should make reservations now and mention they are with the Gulf War conference.

Our keynote speaker will be Congressman Bernie Sanders, a strong advocate of Gulf War veterans. Those groups scheduled to make presentations include the Chemical Weapons Working Group, Military Toxics Project, the Military Toxics Project and the Vietnam Veterans of America. Other presenters include Gary Pitts, the Houston attorney representing veterans who filed suite against chemical warfare agent manufacturers; Dan Fahey, an NGWRC Board member who works at Swords to Plowshares who conducted extensive research on depleted uranium; Jim Tuite, a former Senate investigator who will present his findings on widespread chemical exposures during the Gulf War; and Dr. Doug Rokke, who was the former top investigator for depleted uranium at the Pentagon.

The NGWRC is the only national group focused solely on Gulf War veterans' health issues (much of which revolves around chemical weapons and depleted uranium). Here are a few of our current accomplishments. In two short years:

• The NGWRC published and distributed 5,000 Gulf War Syndrome Self Help Guides. Our Guideoffers information about health care, support groups, the types of toxic exposures, and the VA claim process. Our Guide is available through veterans service organizations and state- level service officers around the country as well as on-line through our web site at www.gulfweb.com. The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans of America has offered to reprint 5,000 updated copies of our Guideand have them ready for distribution in time for our 1997 National Conference in Atlanta.

• The NGWRC testifies repeatedly before Congress, the Presidential Advisory Committee, and state legislatures regarding medical research, health care, various toxic exposures, and compensation for the more than 100,000 ill veterans of the Gulf War. Our Congressional testimony resulted in pending legislation calling for additional funding for research into the long-term adverse health effects of low-level chemical warfare agents. This resulted in an admission by the Pentagon in June 1996 that American soldiers were exposed to deadly nerve agents, and a subsequent admission by the Pentagon in July 1997 that as many as 100,000 were exposed to poison gas.

• The NGWRC conducted research and publicized information regarding the toxic and radiological effects of depleted uranium (DU). We now know tens of thousands of American soldiers were exposed to DU, the nuclear waste by-product used as tank armor and tank rounds for the first time during the Gulf War. Veterans, the public and Congress also learned the Pentagon knowingly withheld training that could have reduced the number and severity of DU toxic exposures.

• The NGWRC sends information regarding Gulf War illnesses to NGWRC Member Groups, other veteran groups, the press, Congress and others interested in this issue in an effort to keep everyone informed with the latest medical research, health care, toxic exposure, and legislative breakthroughs.

The NGWRC is incorporated in Washington, DC and we are listed as a tax-exempt organization. Our phone is: 800-882-1316 x162.

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