VA disability and agent orange

[Guest guest]

NEWS FROM…

CHAIRMAN BOB FILNER

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 17, 2008

http://veterans.house.gov

Veterans Cheated of Their Benefits

VA and Courts Ignore Promises Made to Veterans: CONGRESS MUST ACT

Washington, D.C. – Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs, will hold a press conference on Wednesday, July 23 at

NOON on the Cannon Terrace to announce the introduction of the Agent Orange

Equity Act. The bill restores equity to all Vietnam veterans that were exposed

to Agent Orange.

Who: Chairman Bob Filner, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

G. Jeff , Blue Water Veteran

Ron Abrams, Executive Director, National Veterans Legal Services Program

Rowan, Vietnam

Veterans of America

What: Introduction of the Agent Orange Equity Act, a bill to ensure that

veterans receive their earned benefits

When: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at Noon

Where: Cannon House Office

Building Terrace

The intersection of New Jersey

and Independence Avenues, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20515

“We owe it to our veterans to fulfill the promises made to them as a

result of their service,” said Chairman Filner (D-CA). “If, as a

result of service, a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange and it has resulted in

failing health, this country has a moral obligation to care for each veteran

the way we promised we would. And as a country at war, we must prove that we

will be there for all of our veterans, no matter when they serve. The courts

have turned their backs on our veterans, but I believe this Congress will not

allow our veterans to be cheated of their earned benefits.”

The Agent Orange Equity Act of 2008 would clarify the laws related to VA

benefits provided to Vietnam War veterans suffering from the ravages of Agent

Orange exposure. In order to try to gain a better military vantage point, Agent

Orange, which we now know is a highly toxic cocktail of herbicide agents, was

widely sprayed for defoliation and crop destruction purposes all over the Vietnam

War Battlefield, as well as nearby nations. It was also stored on U.S. vessels and used for vegetation clearing

purposes around U.S.

bases, landing zones and lines of communication.

Currently, VA requires Vietnam

veterans to prove “foot on land” in order to qualify for the

presumptions of service-connection for herbicide-exposure related illnesses

afforded under current law. This issue has been the subject of much litigation

and on May 8, 2008, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upheld VA’s

overly narrow interpretation. Congress clearly did not intend to exclude these

veterans from compensation based on arbitrary geographic line drawing by VA.

The Agent Orange Equity Act of 2008 is intended to clarify the law so that

every service member awarded the Vietnam Service medal, or who otherwise

deployed to land, sea or air, in the Republic

of Vietnam is fully

covered by the comprehensive Agent Orange laws Congress passed in 1991. If

enacted, this bill will make it easier for VA to process Vietnam War veterans’

claims for service-connected conditions that scientists have conclusively

linked to toxic exposures during the Vietnam War and that are identified in

current law. With this legislation, Congress will leave no doubt that the

“Blue Water Navy” and all combat veterans of Vietnam are

intended to be covered and compensated; thus ensuring that these veterans will

receive the disability benefits they earned and deserve for exposure to Agent

Orange.

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