There's something very fishy there. We had people before our committee who were well trained in the detection of low levels and higher levels of chemical exposure. They were picking this up on very sophisticated machinery, they were picking it up out in the field, but somehow when they reported back to higher ups it did not go very far.

We still have people in the active duty, and if people are feeling ill, if they're experiencing various symptoms and they're still in the active duty, they're less likely to come forward because that could result in their medical discharge.

I think it makes people in the Pentagon kind of nervous to know that chemical agents and environmental factors could cause so much damage in terms of what may happen in the future.

What some of us believe is that it is possible that if chemicals are related to Gulf War illness that some of the more severe symptoms may not erupt until 10 or 20 years down the line.

I think right now within the veterans community, certainly with the Congress, there is generally widespread feeling that they have failed their task and it is time to say, thank you, we have got to go elsewhere, to go to those researchers and those agencies who are prepared to take a hard look at the role that chemicals and other environmental factors may have played in the causation of Gulf War illness.

The Republican leadership today demonstrated a blatant abuse of power in subverting House rules and a blatant disregard for the needs of the American people by passing this sham energy bill,