Rehberg bill gets funds to vets exposed to weapons tests

WASHINGTON — Veterans unknowingly subjected to biological and chemical weapons tests decades ago would get medical coverage for their resulting cancers and other diseases under a bill introduced Thursday by Reps. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

“It’s really frustrating to those of us who find it appalling that our own government chooses to have done the tests, but then shirks its responsibility as we start seeing some of the illnesses cropping up,” Rehberg said.

Angered by years of resistance from the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to help the affected veterans, the duo vowed to push the bill through the House quickly.

Due to a lack of cooperation and effort, the departments do not even know how many veterans would be affected by the legislation. The two congressmen estimated about 6,000, but said the Vietnam Veterans of America thinks the number is much higher.

The bill comes in the wake of a February report by the Government Accountability Office concluding that the Defense Department and VA need to improve efforts to identify and notify people who may have been exposed during the chemical and biological tests.

The tests were known as Project 112, which included the Shipboard Hazard and Defense project, or SHAD.

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The Defense Department and other federal agencies conducted Project 112 between 1963 and 1973. Weapons with chemical and biological agents such as VX and Sarin nerve gases and E. coli were tested on unknowing military personnel.

In 2003, the Defense Department had identified 5,842 service members and estimated that about 350 civilians were potentially exposed and said it would stop looking for more, the report said. But the GAO found shortcomings in the department’s efforts and noted that other sources, including the Institute of Medicine, have found at least 600 more people.

Even of those identified by the department, many have not been notified, the report said.

The issue affects some in Montana, including John Olsen of Billings. He has had skin cancer, prostate cancer and an adrenal tumor the size of his fist. He believes that his health problems are linked to the chemical and biological agents to which he was exposed on an Army tugboat in the Pacific Ocean during the tests.

Thompson said the crews stayed below while airplanes flew over barges and sprayed caged animals on the decks. The crews later cleaned the decks using harsh solvents. The military first said the spray was simulated chemical and biological agents, Thompson said, but eventually admitted they were real.

Olsen has said the paper filters designed to prevent the materials from getting through air ducts often deteriorated when they got wet in rough seas.

The Defense Department long denied the existence of the tests, despite questions from lawmakers and reports that many participating veterans had developed highly unusual diseases. The department now admits that the tests took place, but the VA will not provide the veterans with health benefits and compensation for their diseases.

The legislation would require the VA to assume that toxins in the weapons tests caused their health conditions, making them eligible for medical benefits or compensation.

Veterans must provide proof of the connection between their service and health condition. The bill would provide the veterans of Project 112 a “presumption of service connection,” so that dates and location of service — the fact that they were part of the project — would be sufficient to be eligible for health care.

Veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are given such a status. Rehberg said the bill was loosely crafted after similar legislation on Agent Orange.

The bill would also instruct the VA within 180 days to notify all veterans who were potentially exposed to the biological or chemical weapons used in Project 112 and Project SHAD.

Rehberg said some of the information on the tests is still considered classified, but added, “By God, take care of these veterans.”

Some of the affected veterans died of their health conditions long ago. The bill does not address survivor’s benefits.

The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee wants to hold a hearing on the bill quickly and move it to the House floor, Thompson said.

The two congressmen passed similar legislation through the House last year, but the Senate never acted on it. Rehberg said he has not yet worked directly with either of Montana’s senators on moving the bill through that chamber.

The bill has been endorsed by the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Rehberg got involved in the issue shortly after taking office in 2001, when he met with Olsen. The two congressmen have worked on the issue together for years, introducing bills and pushing the Defense Department to provide information and health benefits.