As you know, I have introduced legislation that would explicitly authorize the VA to care for veterans and family members that show illnesses that might be the result of their time at Camp Lejeune.

Providing health care to veterans and their families would be one step toward meeting our moral obligation to those who have put more at risk.

Why would we rather wait to see if I pass legislation versus initiate the authority of the Secretary to create through that general authority the coverage for individuals that we fear might have a condition which is the result of having…

It is simply not right for us to continue to tell our veterans and their families to just wait for another study.

I want to thank you for calling what I think is an extremely important hearing.

I would only point this out that--I think this is at the root of part of the misunderstanding, was it or wasn't it?

We have an obligation to figure out how much of these dangerous chemicals veterans and their families were exposed to at Camp Lejeune and what impact these exposures had potentially on their health.

In one of those documents I just mentioned, Dr. Nuckols, it was noted that the National Research Council's Hazard Evaluation in the Camp Lejeune report, and I quote, 'did not take into account that benzene and vinyl chloride were…

Why was NRC not asked to review a broader set of risks?

Thank you for that, Dr. Hunt, and thank you for noticing that I blurred the line between disability back to medical care, unintentionally, but I am glad that I did so that you could sort of fill me in on that.

Therefore, I would like you to send me a copy of it when you do.