Thomas Daschle: “First of all, as to the matter of the offset, let me emphasize, Gardner has not been used. Gardner has not been used.…”

“First of all, as to the matter of the offset, let me emphasize, Gardner has not been used. Gardner has not been used. That is, the offset has not been allocated. The reason it has not been allocated is that we have not passed a reconciliation bill. No reconciliation bill has passed which delineates its usage. So, clearly, that funding has not been allocated. It is available. I do not think there is any question about that. I ask my colleagues to show me where, in what reconciliation bill, we have delineated the utilization of Gardner. Second, let us not debate Ranch Hand all over again. The Ranch Hand Study and many other studies were debated, and we made our decisions based upon the evidence available in 1991. We passed the Agent Orange Act overwhelmingly, virtually unanimously, in 1991. That battle was fought 5 years ago--beginning even longer ago. That law, now on the books 5 years, simply says when there is a positive association, when there is a connection that has been made by the National Academy of Sciences, that connection be recognized by the VA and be dealt with; we have dealt with all of the other diseases that have now been officially connected.”