Sergeant Juan Deguzman and Sgt. Corey Thompson from Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Ga., prepare for chemical warfare while completing the Army Warrior Tasks course on day three of the Southern Regional Medical Command Best Medic Team Selection Competition. (Photo Credit: Michelle Gordon)
McClachy News: Lawmakers agree to keep Pentagon's secret chemical weapons tests on US troops secret
WASHINGTON: Details about Pentagon biological and chemical weapons tests involving military personnel during the 1960s and 1970s – some involving lethal nerve agents – have long been kept secret. Thursday, the House agreed to keep things that way.
“It’s shameful,” said Congressman Mike Thompson, D-Calif., of the decision. He led a bipartisan effort to get a House vote demanding that the details be disclosed.
He couldn’t even get that vote. He wanted it as an addition to a sweeping defense policy bill the House is considering this week.
The House Rules Committee, which decides what gets considered on the House floor, approved votes on 210 amendments to the defense bill. It rejected 230. Thompson’s proposal was one of the losers.
Rules Committee spokeswoman Caroline Boothe said the committee felt the decision to declassify the documents should be made by Defense Secretary James Mattis and the Trump administration.
The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.
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WNU Editor: The priority should be treating those soldiers who may need help .... not keeping chemical weapons tests that occurred 40 or 50 years ago still classified.
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