VA to assist Gulf War veterans because of Veterans for Common Sense

VCS Advocacy Produces Results

Here is a timeline describing our successful advocacy for Gulf War veterans that resulted in a new decision by VA to assist Gulf War veterans.

On September 24, 2008, VCS wrote VA Secretary James Peake about how VA leaders had improperly denied many Gulf War veterans' disability compensation claims in the early 2000s by failing to tell them about new laws expanding benefits.

In November 2008, VCS led a national effort to publicize the findings of VA's Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illness.

In January 2009, VCS urged Congress to investigate how VA was handling the issue of Gulf War illness.

In May 2009, VCS testified before Congress about the needs and concerns of Gulf War veterans who remain ill due to toxic exposures such as pesticides, oil well fire pollution, experimental pills, experimental anthrax vaccines, depleted uranium, and other poisons.

Yesterday morning, VCS posted our testimony for a hearing about Gulf War veterans originally scheduled for yesterday, but postponed until a date to be determined in the next few months.

Then this morning, a much-needed victory for veterans appeared on the horizon. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki provided an exclusive interview to the Associated Press promising to review Gulf War veterans' disability claims.

The number of potential veterans impacted by VA's decision is at least 15,000, and the number could go higher depending on the scope of VA's review.