European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday october 31, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7agent Orange standoff kills vets Bill by the Washington Post Washington a a bitter standoff Between the House and Senate Over benefits to Vietnam veterans exposed to the defoliant agent Orange killed a wide ranging veterans Benefit measure during the final hours of the 101st Congress. A they were each looking for someone to blink and they went to sleep instead a said John Hanson a spokesman for the american legion the nations largest veterans organization. The legislation which would have granted a 5.4 percent Cost of living increase to 2.1 million veterans receiving compensation for service connected disabilities died in the Senate after sen. Alan k. Simpson r-wyo., a frequent critic of veterans programs objected to its agent Orange provisions. A a we re disgusted and outraged by the treatment that disabled american veterans have received from Congress this year a said Joseph e. Andry National commander of the disabled american veterans. A while our elected representatives have been Able to find the Money and time to pass out their traditional pork barrel projects bail out savings and loan institutions and raise their own salaries they Haven to been Able to adequately take care of  an Effort to enact benefits legislation without the agent Orange provisions died in the House on saturday night after rep. Ted Weiss d-n.y., an advocate of the agent Orange benefits objected. He told the House that it should not yield to Simpsons a objections. A i am not hurting anybody a Weiss told rep. . A a Sonny Montgomery d-miss., chairman of the House veterans affairs committee who tried to dissuade Weiss. A a it a up to them the Senate a but in the Senate sen. Alan Cranston d-calif., chairman of the veterans affairs committee was also rebuffed in his efforts to get Simpson to Retreat. Simpsons objections surprised some because As Cranston noted in a floor speech the agent Orange benefits in the Bill were a truly modest a and were already being Given to veterans because veterans affairs Secretary Edward j. Derwinski had granted them administratively earlier in the year. Stan Cannon Simpsons press Secre tary said the senator should not be blamed for the death of the legislation. In addition to providing the Cost of living allowance the Bill would have boosted the pay for physicians at the vans 172 hospitals improved debt protections for reservists recalled to Active duty in the persian Gulf and kept the a health care system immune from any across the Board budget cuts mandated by the Gramm Rud Man Hollings budget act. Montgomery noted monday in a joint statement with rep. Bob stump r-ariz., that a a ironically among the veterans benefits that will die As of dec. 31 is a provision that would have extended the vans obligation to provide Hospital care to veterans who say they Are suffering As a result of exposure to agent Orange. On the spot winners a ten year old Allyson Blackwell urges her pet Dalmatian Domino to sit while they await the beginning of a pet Parade and contest in Tega Cay . Allyson and Domino took first place in the pet and owner look alike contest during the annual event held on the Banks of Lake Wylie. targets investment advertising Washington up the securities and Exchange commission warned investment companies monday to drop the terms a a guaranteed and a a insured from the names and advertising of Mutual funds investing in . Government securities. The terms a May Lead investors to believe that the value of their shares is guaranteed or insured by the United states government even though there is no such guarantee or insurance a the  said. Mutual funds Are a popular form of investment. Investment companies sell shares in their funds to investors to buy stocks Bonds and Short term Cash instruments such As commercial paper. Some funds specialize in a single group of securities such As Bills notes and Bonds issued by the Treasury department. Although the government securities Are a backed by the full Faith and credit of the United states a the funds Are not. But some sales pitches indicate otherwise the  said. A spokeswoman for the investment company Institute said the use of the terms is limited. A the Industry tries to be very responsible and is concerned the investor knows what they Are going into a she said. A we want our investors to know what they re investing  in a letter to investment companies the  warned that a funds that currently have names using such terms As a guaranteed and a insured in conjunction with words such As a United states and �?~. Government should take immediate action to remove those words from their  the letter said that  staff lawyers a will consider recommending enforcement action if their order is ignored by Mutual fund companies Nam May still hold pos probes say Washington up american prisoners of War were held in Vietnam after the Pentagon said there were none and some Are probably still alive Senate staff investigators reported. In an interim report monday the Republican staff of the Senate foreign relations committee said that the governments claim that no evidence exists that any americans Are being held against their will in Southeast Asia a cannot be  the staff which conducted the first Independent investigation in 17 years of the methods used by the Pentagon to account for the pos and mias of the Vietnam War concluded a the information uncovered during this inquiry provides enough corroboration to cast doubt upon the veracity of the . Governments  the report said a living . Citizens military and civilian were held in Southeast Asia against their will after the . Government statement on april 13,1973, that no prisoners remained alive. A the information available to the . Government does not Rule out the probability that . Citizens Are still being held in Southeast  sen. Jesse Helms r-n.c., who along with sen. Charles Grassley a Iowa pressed for the inquiry said a i believe that the investigators have come to valid  at the same time Helms acknowledged that the investigation is incomplete and that the conclusion a must be further tested before being accepted. Grassley said a this paper is just a preliminary report but its dramatic findings Are extremely important in our quest to get to the Bottom of the matter of service men still missing in Vietnam. A was this report Points out something is clearly wrong when you have a bureaucracy so desperate to identify remains that caskets were buried empty yet were called remains and Given full military honors. If even one american Serviceman can be found As a result of this inquiry the time and Effort will have been Worth  the report said that All information classified As Well As unclassified confirmed the a startling fact that the defense department one year after saying no prisoners remained alive a concluded beyond a doubt that several Hundred living americans were still held. A evidence uncovered in several Hundred cases reviewed thus far clearly demonstrates that in a disturbing number of cases the department of defense made significant errors in drawing conclusions about live sighting reports the presumed death of individuals or about individuals who were unaccounted for at the conclusion of the War a the report said. The staff investigators also said the Pentagon spent an a excessive amount of Effort in discrediting live sighting reports and mishandled forensic data to confirm a presumption of death. A the defense department appeared to be More anxious to declare a presumptive finding of death than in following up reports of sightings with creative investigative work a the report said. The investigators also said that the classified evidence in the files of the defense intelligence Agency a suggests a pattern by a few . Government officials of misleading congressional inquiries by concealing information and misinterpreting or manipulating data in government