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Agent Orange Legislation Introduced, Supported by FRA
Rep. Bob Filner (Calif.), Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, hosted a press conference this week to announce introduction of the "Agent Orange Equity Act" (H.R. 6562). The FRA-supported measure seeks to reverse the VA's policy that prevents "blue water" military retirees and veterans from claiming disability benefits for diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
Many Navy veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam, so-called "blue water" veterans, have health problems commonly associated with herbicide exposure, but have endured lengthy legal struggles to prove these problems are service-related. The bill is in response to a recent court ruling that the VA's definition of "service in the Republic of Vietnam" (which includes only those who set foot in, served on inland waterways or put into port in Vietnam) should remain the standard for proving exposure. This definition, used by VA for more than a decade, excludes veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam. The new legislation would allow service members who served in the surrounding waters off the coast of Vietnam and in the skies above to file a claim for exposure to Agent Orange.
FRA expressed its opposition to blue-water restrictions when it testified before the House and Senate VA Committees in April, and encourages shipmates to use the FRA Action Center (www.fra.org) to ask their representative to support the bill.
Many Navy veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam, so-called "blue water" veterans, have health problems commonly associated with herbicide exposure, but have endured lengthy legal struggles to prove these problems are service-related. The bill is in response to a recent court ruling that the VA's definition of "service in the Republic of Vietnam" (which includes only those who set foot in, served on inland waterways or put into port in Vietnam) should remain the standard for proving exposure. This definition, used by VA for more than a decade, excludes veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam. The new legislation would allow service members who served in the surrounding waters off the coast of Vietnam and in the skies above to file a claim for exposure to Agent Orange.
FRA expressed its opposition to blue-water restrictions when it testified before the House and Senate VA Committees in April, and encourages shipmates to use the FRA Action Center (www.fra.org) to ask their representative to support the bill.
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Inappropriate?I served one tour of duty in Utapao and NKP Thailand with the USAF from 1973 -74 and over the past ten years I have experienced a long list of physical illnesses from Adult Type II diabetes, a degenrative spinal condition, a brain tumor and an anomily in my pituitary gland. All of these conditions, I attribute to herbicide and pesticide exposure while serving on these basis. I once believed what the military said that I was in perfect health at my discharge physical. Now I have lost everything that I have worked for over the past 35 years. Where is the just. So, I hope that you can see why, I do not the American flag on my coffin.
I’m totally disgusted
