Bordallo applauds off-base Agent Orange testing

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) issued the following statement applauding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) and Guam Environmental Protection Agency’s (GEPA) recent decision to test for Agent Orange at non-military sites across Guam:

Bordallo

“The EPA should always have tested for Agent Orange island-wide and not just on military installations. I am encouraged that they will now examine off-base and non-military sites for potential traces of Agent Orange. I continue working in Congress to ensure that the word of Guam residents and veterans who recounted spraying on Guam decades ago is taken seriously. Right now, the federal study on reported Agent Orange use on Guam, which I directed, is expected to be completed this fall and made public,” said Bordallo.

The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO)—Congress’s independent investigative agency—is currently conducting a comprehensive study regarding alleged Agent Orange use, storage, or transshipment on Guam. The GAO has already sent investigators to Guam and conducted several on-island interviews. GAO also continues to identify and review shipping logs for vessels that transported Agent Orange between the mainland United States and Vietnam to determine if such vessels made port calls on Guam. At this time, the GAO is expected to finalize its report, required by Congresswoman Bordallo’s provision in the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, by late fall this year.

Bordallo continues to pressure the U.S. military and federal government to take responsibility for any verified Agent Orange use on Guam, particularly any during the Vietnam War era. Below are her public actions during the current 115th Congress:

– May 16, 2018 House Veterans Affairs Committee testimony: https://bordallo.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bordallo-underscores-guam-veterans-challenges-house-veterans-affairs

– July/June 2017 National Defense Authorization Act GAO study provision

– July 14, 2017: https://bordallo.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-fy18-defense-bill

– June 22, 2017: https://bordallo.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/readiness-subcommittee-s-fy18-ndaa-mark-includes-bordallo-provisions

– April 3, 2017 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study: https://bordallo.house.gov/sites/bordallo.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/Letter%20to%20GAO%20re%20Agent%20Orange_0.pdf

– Jan. 18, 2017 meeting with senior Defense Department officials: https://bordallo.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bordallo-meets-dod-officials-agent-orange

– Jan. 5, 2017 letter to the U.S. Air Force: https://bordallo.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/bordallo-requests-information-regarding-possible-agent-orange-use-guam. (PR)