September 27, 2011 - U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced a bill amending the Agent Orange Act to include Navy veterans of Vietnam who served on board ships but not on land.
Gillibrand, a Democrat from the Albany area, introduced the bill, the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2011, with a Republican, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The bill would broaden the group of veterans eligible for compensation payments for diseases arising from exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide used by U.S. forces to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam. Agent Orange contained dioxin, a poisonous chemical that can cause a host of human health problems.
The bill would allow sailors who served in "the territorial seas" of Vietnam to apply for compensation. Previously, the so-called "blue water Navy veterans" - sailors who could not show they spent time on land in Vietnam or on its intercoastal waterways - were excluded, even if they were suffering from diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure.
Other Vietnam veterans who did serve on land or on ships that ventured up the country's rivers had only to show they were suffering from certain ailments linked to dioxin exposure, such as Type 2 diabetes, to qualify for government compensation.
The original Agent Orange Act of 1991 covered all veterans of Vietnam, including those from the Navy and Air Force. But, in 2002, the government reinterpreted the phrase "served in the Republic of Vietnam" as limiting eligibility to soldiers who had set foot on the ground there.
Charles Cooley of Fort Edward, who suffers from Type 2 diabetes, was granted benefits under the act's original interpretation, but, last year, had them taken away under the new reading.
This June, officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs became aware of Cooley's circumstances through a series of stories that ran in The Post-Star. They reconsidered his case, admitted the agency's staff had made mistakes, and reinstated monthly benefits at a higher level than he had been receiving before his payments were stopped.
The agency also awarded Cooley and his wife, Dolores, a lump sum to make up for missed payments and payments that were lower than they should have been. read more>>>
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