The bill passed by a vote of 382-0 with Rep. Reed’s support.
“We care about our Vietnam Veterans who were exposed to
Agent Orange but have been denied fair access to the benefits they deserve,”
said Rep. Reed. “This is a great example of Washington working together and
solving a problem to help people.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs already presumes that
ground troops in Vietnam – and others who served in the country's inland
waterways – were exposed to Agent Orange, a dioxin-laden herbicide that's been
found to cause respiratory cancers, Parkinson's disease, heart disease as well
as other conditions.
Currently these “blue water” veterans — who served on ships
off the coast of Vietnam — have been denied this same benefit because they are
required to prove direct exposure to Agent Orange for their illnesses to be
labeled as service-connected. In many cases that’s impossible, since scientific
evidence from the ships was never collected.
