What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Philanthropist Bobby Willis to Build New $3.3 Billion Hospital for VA in Farmington, NM for Rural and Native American Veterans |
Proposed state-of-the-art Kirtland veterans clinic could provide as many as 8,000 jobs March 14, 2010, Farmington, New Mexico (Farmington Daily Times) — A proposed veterans complex in Kirtland centered around a new hospital, backed by a wealthy entrepreneur and costing an estimated $3.3 billion promises to bring state-of-the-art medicine and other benefits to veterans, as well as 8,000 jobs to the local economy. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
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| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
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VCS to Senate: Please Fund Gulf War Illness Treatment Research
Written by VCS
Monday, 28 September 2009 14:13
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Veterans for Common Sense began contacting Senators today asking for them to support $12 million in funding for urgently needed medical research for treatments for the estimated 175,000 ill Gulf War veterans. Our VCS letter to Senators is shown below. September 28, 2009 The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman Dear Chairman Inouye and Ranking Member Cochran: Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) urges Senators to support Senator Sanders’ amendment to include $12 million in funding for Gulf War illness treatment research in the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act. Full funding for treatment research at the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) remains our top priority for our 175,000 Gulf War veterans who remain ill from the 1991 conflict. The CDMRP research remains vital for our military because it also serves to protect our current and future service members at risk of toxic exposures. The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act authorized $12 million for Gulf War illness research at CDMRP. The current funding bill is silent on targeted funds for Gulf War illness. The 2008 Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee (RAC) report concluded Gulf War illness is real, was caused by wartime toxic exposures, and adversely impacts one-in-four veterans. A major Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study published in 2009 confirmed the number of ill veterans. However, there are currently no effective treatments for our ill veterans. The RAC unanimously recommended $40 million in CDMRP funding. The RAC endorses the CDMRP and identified treatment research as the highest priority for our Gulf War veterans. Spending $15 million during its first two years of existence, CDMRP funded nine treatment studies, now underway, compared to three studies during the previous 15 years. The CDMRP focuses on small pilot studies of promising treatments already approved for other diseases and is open to all researchers on a competitive basis. Again, we respectfully request the Senate to include $12 million for Gulf War treatment research funding in the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act, and we appreciate your commitment to all our service members, veterans, and their families. Sincerely, Thomas Bandzul cc: Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee |