Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told the Washington
Examiner Thursday that legislation is needed before the Department of Veteran
Affairs can help those veterans suffering from a range of illnesses related to
toxic exposure in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
But the small subset of veterans who spent time at a
contaminated Uzbek airbase that served as a northern staging ground for the invasion
of Afghanistan has long called on a simple Department of Defense regulation
change and the VA to cooperate.
“We don’t want our veterans to go through what Vietnam
veterans went through in terms of not knowing,” Wilkie told the Washington
Examiner in a Thursday press call hosted by Inside Sources.
“Now, the Congress does have to change legislation,” Wilkie
said, describing a statutory change to the percentage a veteran is considered
disabled after a service-related injury. “We don’t deny medical services to any
veteran who is sick.”
But K2 veteran and retired Army Staff Sgt. Mark Jackson told
the Washington Examiner that Wilkie was splitting hairs to obfuscate the
problem.
“Secretary Wilkie is providing the same vague platitudes
that we’ve been getting for 20 years,” said Jackson, who served at the secret
base known as “K2” in Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan.
“It’s ironic that he says that he’s trying to prevent what
happened to Vietnam veterans because it’s already happening to us,” he said.
“He’s technically correct, any sick veteran can go in and
get care,” he explained. “That’s the point is that, without preventative care
and early intervention, all we’re going to have is sick veterans.”
Jackson said veterans are denied preventive screenings to
detect rare cancers related to their exposure. Now, he and other K2 veterans
are hoping legislation or an amendment to the National Defense Authorization
Act will force the VA and the Pentagon to act.
Asked by the Washington Examiner if he has asked Defense
Secretary Mark Esper to conduct the required epidemiological studies that a law
would mandate, Wilkie only said the K2 was among a host of things the two
agencies discuss.
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