JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas by the military will find it easier to receive help under legislation President Donald Trump has signed into law.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Trump on Wednesday signed the legislation that Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, pushed through Congress. It requires the Veterans Affairs Department to reconsider disability benefits denied to those who claimed the testing caused health problems.
McCaskill has said the military tested the effects of mustard gas and the blister agent lewisite on about 60,000 veterans by the end of World War II. Her office estimates a couple hundred participants could still be alive, including 90-year-old Missouri resident Arla Harrell, for whom the bill was named.
McCaskill says, “Every once in a while, Congress gets it right.”
