Shaheen, Collins Lead Bipartisan Letter Urging the Biden Administration to Renew Efforts to Identify the Cause of Anomalous Health Incidents

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, and Susan Collins (R-ME), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, led a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators in sending a letter to President Biden urging his administration to renew efforts to investigate the root cause behind anomalous health incidents (AHIs), also known as “Havana Syndrome.” In light of the allegations raised in the CBS 60 Minutes television segment, the letter also calls for timely compensation for impacted individuals and requests an interagency briefing from administration officials to understand their current efforts to identify attribution behind these attacks. Joining Shaheen and Collins on this letter are U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mark Warner (D-VA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), James Risch (R-ID) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). 

The Senators wrote in part, “We write to express concern regarding the allegations raised in a joint investigation by CBS’ 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel and the Insider which point to evidence that the Russian intelligence unit, GRU, is responsible for directed energy attacks against American government officials and their families. […] Despite our efforts to provide support to affected individuals and advance legislation to ensure that an interagency response was in place to get to the root cause behind these incidents, we are frustrated that this phenomenon is left unresolved and urge you to renew efforts to identify the cause behind directed energy attacks.” 

At a recent U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Shaheen questioned U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about recent investigations into AHIs and he agreed that new information warrants continued collection from the Intelligence Community on the source of AHIs.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

Senators Shaheen and Collins co-authored the HAVANA Act, which was signed into law in 2021. The law authorizes the Director of the CIA and the Secretary of State to provide additional financial support for American public servants who have incurred brain injuries likely from directed energy attacks.  

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