Open Letter to the new 110th Congress

Most veterans as well as most Americans are expecting you to return to Capitol Hill, a missing piece of the congressional process OVERSIGHT we have all heard the campaign promises, now it is time for the real deal, ACTION we expect it and we DEMAND it.

We the citizens of this nation have paid the price of the "Contract on America" that Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay delivered and enforced, and we and our grandchildren will be paying for it for decades, now we need you to fix it, for all of us, every American and even the world, the conduct of this nation has been less than stellar for the past five years. We need to return to having a credible voice in world affairs.

I am a disabled veteran, 100% Permanent and Total, there is no surgery that can fix my problems, I am on a medicate until death regimen. What caused it? I feel it was my use in a program related to MKULTRA at Edgewood Arsenal in 1974, I like 7119 other Army and Air Force enlisted personnel had volunteered to test equipment and unifroms for the battlefield of the future and we were lied to by the recruiters for the DOD/CIA program. http://www.nap.edu/books/030904832X/... As you can see the Department of the Army's Inspector General found they were breaking international law, and after Congress learned of it, the program of human testing was stopped.

But by then the damage was done as shown by this report from the IOM http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3795/4913/584... it shows that as of FY2000, that 40% of the men, 2098 were deceased, and that 54% of the survivors were disabled, yet the report never stated why, was that to embarassing to the Department of Defense or to the CIA.

We like most veterans do not care what was the "actual" cause of our injuries, we want the "Promise" of this nation that is made to all of it's citizens when they join the military, "that if anything happens to you while on duty, we will take care of you and your family" I am sorry to say that DOD and the VA have worked in colusion to deny these 7120 veterans and their widows, the benefits they have earned by participation in the human experiments at Edgewood Arsenal.

We veterans do know that our best advocate Congressman Lane Evans retired this year due to medical conditions and he will surely be missed, we do anticipate another great Congressman Bob Filner to be named as the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we are confident he will demand accountability from the VA for all veterans, not just the Edgewood veterans.

The new veterans being caused by Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back to a healthcare system ill prepared for the influx of PTSD cases, traumatic brain injuries that will require a lifetime of specialized care, expensive care, with attendants and special needs.

We hope that THIS Congress will see to it, that the VA healthcare becomes more on the lines of the Medicare Program, if the veterans need it they get it, no more partially funded, dollar restricted management, sorry no surgery for you no money until the next fiscal year, that is not good enough, pass the Fully funded healthcare this year, give the veterans what they have earned, RESPECT, and the treatment that goes with it.

This manual shows that the VA addressed the issue of the veterans used in the experiments from WW2 thru the end of the Cold War in this manual, yet they refuse to process the claims of the Edgewood veterans, why? http://www1.va.gov/vhi/docs/CBR_www.pdf I would also like to point out that this manual was written six months after the release of the March 2003 IOM Sarin report, why weren't those results included in this manual? Again to embarassing?

I was recently honored by one of the communities best diarists OPOL here by the mention of my name and a link to one of my diaries about MKULTRA http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1... all I can say to OPOL is SALUTE you are one fine American.

In closing, I as many other Americans want is for Congress to do the job you were elected to do, the people's buesiness, not corporations with lot's of money for lobbyists, take care of us the average American, healthcare for all, a fair tax program, protect Social Security, pension programs, give us a reason to trust Congress again, is that to much to ask?