Bill Introduced to Stop Service Connected Disability from Agent Orange Exposure

Calling all VietNam era veterans! If you have an Agent Orange claim or you have any of the ailments associated with Agent Orange (see VA website for complete list) exposure please pay attention to the bill, S. 2026, being introduced by the esteemed Senator Akaka (D-HI) of the Senate Veteran's Committee. So nice that veterans rights are being protected by this committee. HA!

What this bill is trying to do is make it so only veterans who served in country can claim service connected disability in regards to Agent Orange exposure. Most veterans are aware of the Haas decision and the Blue Waters decision which has established that veterans who served outside of VietNam were also exposed and should be compensated as well.

This bill is also setting a date of September 30, 2002 to which claims cannot be made earlier than. If you filed your claim prior to this and the VA finally owns up and pays the service connected disability, if this bill passes then they only have to back pay to the Sept 2002 date. This bill would also negate the recent favorable decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the Nehmer case, which addressed service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

This is such a sad and typical treatment of our VietNam veterans. To those of you who doubt that our soldiers were exposed outside of VietNam there is ample evidence to the contrary. There have been barrels of Agent Orange found buried at the end of airport runways in Thailand. The people of the countries surrounding VietNam where we had bases are suffering the same diseases that the VA has recognized as being related to Agent Orange.

The VA itself admitted that in their research the only way to keep the jungle back was to use herbicides. These herbicides had to be used in and around all bases in order for jets to land and so that our servicemen stationed at those bases were able to see any threats coming at them.

I urge all veterans to contact Senator Akaka at the Senate Vet's Committee, your VSO and all veteran's organizations that you are associated with to stop this bill. How we can continue to ask young men to go to war for our country and then not take care of them when they have disabilities connected with that service is beyond me. This is a national embarrassment.