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Guest Commentary July 23, 2002
Revelations of Using Military Personnel as Guinea Pigs Is Appalling
The Honorable Bill Nelson
I'm appalled by recent revelations that during the mid-1960's and early 1970's, the Navy conducted chemical and biological testing on its own sailors.
In order to see whether ships and crews would survive chemical and biological attacks, the Navy sprayed various vessels with harmful chemical agents -- without the sailors' full knowledge or consent.
What was done was wrong. And it's only been worsened over the years by denying medical care we should have given immediately to those affected.
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In fact, I'm introducing a bill to require the Defense Department to provide Congress, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, all records relevant to the exposure of service members to harmful chemical or biological agents during the Navy's ship-spraying experiments.
This bill also will direct the Department of Defense to review all records -- classified and unclassified -- to identify all developmental or operational tests of chemical or biological weapons or defenses that used hazardous simulated agents on military personnel.
Meantime, I've asked the chairman of my committee, Senator Carl Levin, to hold hearings as soon as possible -- classified if necessary to protect legitimate defense secrets.
We must get a handle on the scope of all military biological and chemical weapons testing programs that may have used our soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines as guinea pigs.
We need to get to the bottom of this, to find out what happened -- and, more importantly, see who may have suffered as a result, so they can get medical care. ...
We must find the people who have been harmed by these tests and get them into appropriate healthcare systems to make sure they are okay. If they're not, we must get them the treatment they need -- the treatment they deserve.
No more - "ifs, ands, or buts."
No more - "get in line."
No more - "maybe next year."
No more - "prove to us that you're sick."
Bill Nelson, a Democrat, is a U.S. Senator from Florida. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Nelson delivered at The 74th Annual Disabled Veterans State Convention, June 8, 2002. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
