Thomas Daschle: “Well, the law requires us to base it on the National Academy of Sciences' report, which is based on several studies. The…”

“Well, the law requires us to base it on the National Academy of Sciences' report, which is based on several studies. The National Academy of Sciences is required, under the law of 1991, to review the scientific literature and evidence to provide us with an assessment of the health-related difficulties that may be in evidence as a result of exposure in Vietnam, including those especially related to children. In accordance with the law, the National Academy of Sciences has now said that spina bifida is one disease where a clear association can be drawn. In working with the National Academy of Sciences, the Congressional Budget Office, and the VA, there has been an estimate provided, for budgetary purposes, of the number of children who would be directly affected. That estimate is the one I gave earlier. That is only an estimate, but it is the best estimate, given the circumstances and the studies that have now been done. I don't believe it is a very significant matter for us to be debating the question as to whether it is 2,500, or 2,800, or 3,200. The estimate was made the way CBO estimates are normally made. The real question is: What do you do when you have a veteran exposed to agent orange, who now has a child with spina bifida? What the law says is that we give the veteran and his or her family the benefit of the doubt. In following through with the law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has done just that.”