That is the wrong way to do things.

I wrote both the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs for information and a report on what was being done to help exposed veterans.

It should not require a U.S. Senator and his dogged staff to get this information to the men and women who need it so urgently.

I would like to thank Senator Rockefeller and his staff, and especially the VFW, for giving soldiers and veterans much needed support through the VA system in West Virginia.

Six years is simply unacceptable.

There is something which prevents--and I have heard this in other sessions about other types of problems--soldiers taking on the military even as they suffer.

It is shocking. It is just shocking.

We have a responsibility to make clear to the DOD just how important it is to prevent exposures when possible.

DOD and its contractors have failed to meet their responsibility to our men in uniform.

But we make the soldier prove everything.

Doesn't the military have a responsibility, particularly when you are not in a huge situation...

The fact that they were not warned of or protected from exposure to Sodium Dichromate--a dangerous chemical--is an enormously serious problem.

What fascinates me but angers me so much is that as I said--and you will remember this, Russell, from our August hearing--is there is such a direct comparison between this and the Gulf War Syndrome: the denial on the part of the military…

This has been a cornerstone of who I am as a person and as a legislator throughout my career.

I know for a fact that Sen. Rockefeller is giving veterans and soldiers alike, much needed support through the VA system in WV.

I mean, for heaven's sakes, they knew they were going to send you to this camp, to Qarmat Ali, and therefore, they had to have been there.

It would be sort of nice and sort of important if your family and friends seeing your situation all felt like you could get the same thing.

There has always been a lack of coordination between the Department of Defense and the VA.