Senators Gillibrand (D-NY) and Daines (R-MT) in bipartisonship March 9, 2015, introduced to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Senate Bill S.681 titled The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Act. The Bill is to companion with House Bill HR-969 of the same title. Both Bills are important to those veterans who have been ignored for VA benefits ever since 2002.
It is beyond comprehension why our legislators continue to ignore this group of veterans who served at sea in the combat waters of the Republic of Vietnam. These Navy veterans were also in Harm's Way and were poisoned with the herbicide Agent Orange Dioxin. Tens of thousands at sea have come down with the same diseases as those troops with boots on ground and proven by the Institute Of Medicine (IOM) that Dioxin is in fact just as deadly at sea as on land. The IOM investigative report is what Congress and the VA goes by to determine certain benefits for veterans that involve herbicides such as is the case relative to the Vietnam War. These legislative Bills are supported by all service military organizations.
American people stand up and be counted. Call, write your members of Congress and Senate. Urge them to pass Bills HR-969 and S.681. Your voice must be heard to save lives.
John J. Bury, US Navy retired, Vietnam Veteran
Media, Pa.
