Trump signs bill to help vets exposed to mustard gas

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 reported Trump on Wednesday signed the legislation 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 still could be alive, including 90-year-old Missouri resident Arla Harrell, for whom the bill was named.

"Every once in a while, Congress gets it right," McCaskill said.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com