Cord Byrd: “in June 1997, Senator Glenn, Senator Levin, and I requested the General Accounting Office (GAO) to examine the…”

“in June 1997, Senator Glenn, Senator Levin, and I requested the General Accounting Office (GAO) to examine the Department of Defense's (DOD) approach for addressing U.S. troop exposures to low levels of chemical warfare agents. That report is being released today. This kind of exposure, most recently experienced in the immediate aftermath of the Persian Gulf War--and possibly during it--is likely to become an ever greater threat, as more nations seek a battlefield advantage by employing the ``poor man's bomb,'' chemical weapons. Our concern was to ensure that the Department of Defense had, in fact, learned the lessons of the Persian Gulf War and had taken effective steps to address any weaknesses that might result in the soldiers of future wars being needlessly harmed by exposure to low levels of chemical weapons. It is one thing to suffer casualties on the battlefield due to the misfortunes of war; it is quite another thing to inflict on American service men and women unnecessary wounds caused by a lack of foresight and planning. That is unacceptable. Unfortunately, what the GAO discovered is that, as far as chemical weapons and chemical battlefields are concerned, the United States military is still in Cold War mode.”