SLIDELL, LA – Military-Veterans Advocacy, a tax exempt non-profit corporation based in Slidell, LA, said Congressman Christopher Gibson’s (R-NY) amendment to pending legislation to protect service members who served aboard ships in the harbors of Vietnam from fighting capricious battles with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is a big win for veterans.
"We're very thankful to Congressman Gibson and the other sponsors of this legislation," said Cdr. John Wells (USN, Ret.), executive director of the Louisiana-based Military-Veterans Advocacy. "We have asked our supporters in the Senate to offer similar language in amending the bill in the upper chamber. We're optimistic that after many years, this legislation will finally pass, restoring the services these veterans need and deserve."
Military-Veterans Advocacy reps said the House, with unanimous support, adopted the congressman's bill to amend the military construction Veterans Affairs appropriations bill defunding the VA's decision to restrict Agent Orange benefits to those who served on land or inland waterways of Vietnam.
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, pending in both chambers of Congress, would give Navy and other military personnel who served on such vessels the presumption of exposure to Agent Orange, restoring healthcare benefits for those veterans. Military-Veterans Advocacy reps said incontrovertible scientific evidence shows that even though the personnel never set foot on Vietnamese soil, they were exposed to the toxin Agent Orange through runoff that then infiltrated shipboard water systems. Although authorized during the '80s for appropriate benefits, the VA in recent years rescinded them.
Military-Veterans Advocacy reps said bipartisan legislation (H.R. 969, S. 681) aims to restore those benefits, and Thursday, May 19, 2016, Gibson amended the House version to prevent the VA from using funds appropriated for these benefits – estimated at $930 million – to be used by the VA in fighting the veterans' claims.
