Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo has asked the Government Accountability Office to review all documentation regarding the use of Agent Orange and other dioxin-based herbicides on Guam.
The Department of Defense has said Agent Orange was never present or transited through Guam, but veterans who were stationed on Guam during the Vietnam War, like Leroy Foster, have said they were forced to spray Agent Orange in military facilities and defense properties on Guam.
Foster, 68, now resides in Florida and said he now suffers from 33 diseases, including five different cancers as a result of spraying the herbicide that was widely used by the United States to kill vegetation during the Vietnam War.
In a letter to the GAO sent Friday, Bordallo asked that the agency review all documentation related to the handling and transport of Agent Orange to hold DoD accountable and address this situation based off the findings.
“We need updated information in order to make the right recommendations,” Bordallo stated in a press release.
The GAO is an independent watchdog agency that serves as a legislative check on the executive branch. Because of its access to sensitive records not made available to private organizations, the GAO is uniquely capable of reviewing DoD’s assertion, Bordallo noted.
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