Louis Stokes: “Mr. Speaker, I rise to explain my motion to instruct House conferees on the 1997 VA-HUD-Independent Agencies…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to explain my motion to instruct House conferees on the 1997 VA-HUD-Independent Agencies Appropriations Act. I will be the first to admit that this instruction is not quite the norm, but I strongly believe that circumstances and timing dictate this course of action. The first part of my motion deals with benefits for Vietnam Veterans' children suffering from spina bifida if their parents were exposed to agent orange. It directs the House conferees to agree to the Agent Orange Benefits Act added by the Senate (amendment number 95). The Senate provision is supported by the administration and is the result of research conducted by the National Academy of Sciences in response to congressional direction in 1991. A report issued by the National Academy this past March updated an earlier study presented in 1993. This year's report indicated limited suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to agent orange and incidence of spina bifida in offspring. Based on this new study, the VA has recommended that spina bifida in veterans' offspring be considered service-connected. Without this important provision, the VA lacks the authority to extend benefits to the children of veterans. Although caring for the spina bifida children will have a cost, the amendment more than compensates for those expenses.”