Upon taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration spearheaded a dedicated effort to address anomalous health incidents reported by our colleagues. We convened departments and agencies across the U.S. Government to develop new policies to expand access to and improve medical care for affected personnel, ensure incidents could be reported freely and without stigma, and provide benefits to eligible employees under statutes passed by Congress, including the HAVANA Act which President Biden signed into law. We also tasked the Intelligence Community to examine the causes or causes of these incidents and directed intensive research by our leading laboratories, informed by experts in and outside of government.
Our focus on these priorities remains unwavering and must continue. Today's updated Intelligence Community Assessment, which is the product of ongoing analytic efforts and includes a shift in key judgements by some intelligence components, only reinforces why it is vital that the U.S. Government continue critical research, investigate credible incidents, and strengthen efforts to provide timely care and long-term clinical follow-up.
We will be briefing the incoming Administration on the full scope of ongoing work that should continue, as well as additional areas of focus recommended by the Intelligence Community experts panel, which found that a subset of anomalous health incidents cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and that pulsed electromagnetic or acoustic energy remains a plausible explanation in certain cases. As with other health challenges faced by U.S. personnel that took years to diagnose, sustained clinical, research, and investigative work is necessary to clarify what caused the symptoms our colleagues have reported, develop effective medical interventions, and prevent future incidents. Our brave colleagues and their families, who suffered real and sometimes serious injuries, deserve no less.
