advocacy group Veterans of Modern Warfare . `` This is a bittersweet victory , -LSB- because -RSB- this is what Gulf War veterans have been saying all along , '' Hardie said at a news conference in Washington . `` Years were squandered by the federal government ... trying to disprove that anything could be wrong with Gulf War veterans . '' The committee 's report , titled `` Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans , '' was officially presented Monday to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake . Noting that overall funding for research into Gulf War illness has declined dramatically since 2001 , it calls for a `` renewed federal research commitment '' to `` identify effective treatments for Gulf War illness and address other priority Gulf War health issues . '' Watch CNN 's Elizabeth Cohen report more on Gulf War illness '' According to the report , Gulf War illness is a `` complex of multiple concurrent symptoms '' that `` typically includes persistent memory and concentration problems , chronic headaches , widespread pain , gastrointestinal problems , and other chronic abnormalities . '' The illness may also be potentially tied to
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness . A U.S. soldier wears protection against chemical weapons during the Gulf War in a February 1991 photo . That illness is a condition now identified as the likely consequence of exposure to toxic chemicals , including pesticides and a drug administered to protect troops against nerve gas . The 452-page report states that `` scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans . '' The report , compiled by a panel of scientific experts and veterans serving on the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans ' Illnesses , fails to identify any cure for the malady . It also notes that few veterans afflicted with Gulf War illness have recovered over time . `` Today 's report brings to a close one of the darkest chapters in the legacy of the 1991 Gulf War , '' said Anthony Hardie , a member of the committee and a member of the