The Riegle Report, officially titled "U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Gulf War", summarized testimony before the

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...

with Respect to Export Administration. The May 25, 1994, report by Committee Chairman Riegle and ranking minority member Alfonse M. D'Amato concludes that there is significant evidence that "coalition forces were exposed to mixed chemical agents as a result of coalition bombings of Iraqi nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities and that the fallout from these bombings may be contributing to the health problems currently being suffered by Gulf War veterans" following the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

(1990–1991). The report also implicates the

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

as well as the

American Type Culture Collection ATCC or the American Type Culture Collection is a nonprofit organization which collects, stores, and distributes standard reference microorganisms, cell lines and other materials for research and development. Established in 1925 to serve as a nati ...

in the shipment of biological research samples to Iraq: :"Records available from the supplier for the period from 1985 until the present show that during this time, pathogenic, toxigenic, and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Records prior to 1985 were not available, according to the supplier. These exported biological materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction." Senator Riegle also called in the ''

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Ind ...

'' for the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

to continue to investigate the potential causes of Gulf War syndrome and to provide needed care to afflicted Gulf War veterans and their families: :"Frankly, the Defense Department does not have too much interest in retired Army colonel who is sick and unemployed They are looking ahead to other things. They are not looking back at the large number of sick veterans who are out there. :"But it does not take a Ph.D., knowing Saddam Hussein's record, knowing he had the production facilities, knowing that we went in and bombed some of those production facilities, and knowing that the things that we sent him helped him produce biological weapons, to understand that such exposures may—I underline the word ''may''—be causing the problems of a lot of our sick veterans that otherwise are defying explanation."

References

Gulf War syndrome Iraq and weapons of mass destruction Iraq–United States relations

See also

References