Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets

While this is great news, it comes too late for too many like my friend Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan. She died in Washington DC after going there for another hearing on her claim. She had PTSD and Agent Orange illnesses but died before she saw this day.

Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 11, 2009 11:18:09 EDT

Saying “time is running out” for blue-water Navy veterans of the Vietnam War who have had difficulty proving their ill health is the result of exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange, the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has reintroduced legislation that would presume sailors who patrolled Vietnam’s shoreline faced the same risk as ground forces.

“We owe it to our veterans to fulfill the promise made to them as a result of their service,” said committee chairman Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif..

Filner has cited the same imperative in support of his effort to push through legislation providing pensions to World War II Filipino Scouts who served alongside U.S. troops but never got promised benefits.

He also is working on legislation that would provide a $1,000 monthly benefit to Merchant Marine veterans who aided the military during World War II.

In this case, Filner said that the Veterans Affairs Department, Congress and the courts have devised laws and policies that provide unequal treatment for Vietnam veterans.

His Agent Orange bill, HR 2254, would revise VA rules so that any Vietnam War veteran suffering from a health problem that could be the result of Agent Orange exposure would be presumed to have a service-connected disability. The bill would apply to veterans who received a Vietnam service medal and were deployed on the land or in the air and sea of Vietnam during the war.
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Bill: Ease Agent Orange claims for Navy vets