Gulf War Veterans 90-91 Welcomed on the Hill in DC?

Gulf  War Veterans Alert!

The Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Committee has now posted its Nov 2009 meeting minutes.  The link to the full minutes:  http://www1.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/page.cfm?pg=94  The next meeting of the Congressionally chartered U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (RAC) is scheduled for March 1st-2nd, 2010 in Washington DC.  Two additional RAC meetings will be held in 2010.  Another will be held in Washington, DC on June 28th and 29th, 2010.  The final RAC meeting for 2010 will be held in Boston on November 1st and 2nd, 2010.  Read more on the House Hearings below.     

The VA House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations cancelled the November 4, 2009 hearing, I was told by phone contact before Christmas that this hearing is tenatively but not officially scheduled for February 25, 2010.  As of today it is still not posted on the  House VA Committee website, I have called yet again to reconfirm.  On call just confirmed date is still Tenative until posted on their website and not to expect that until February. 

Which is sad, that after several calls to them we can not get a hard date that is offical!  I have expressed to them that the veterans of the Gulf War 90-91 are ill chronically and that their resources financially are limited and that we need as much advance information on scheduling as possible to allow the veterans any chance of attending in person to get advance airline tickets and hotel at reasonable rates. 

I expressed to them that the VA RAC GWI has already posted their schedule for the year including March 1-2 meeting and that it would be benefical to get this date of hearing on the hill finalized.  It seems yet again that the forces on the hill do not get it!  These hearings are about our ill health since the war in 1990-91 and we want veterans to have every chance possible to be present in person so they can see with their own eyes and hear from each of us even before or after the hearing, the true life experiences and agony we are living through! 

Seems to me like they don’t want to have us present in any numbers, the tin heart and tin ear syndrome yet again!  I do hate having to inform on this situation in this manner but facts are facts.

So my question to the veterans, their family members, Americans that do care, and the press:   What are you going to DO About this?

I do hope the mainstream media reports on this!  A little public pressure would be welcomed by this group of veterans.