[CPEO-MEF] HEALTH: Navy Vets seek Agent Orance compensation

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Navy's Vietnam vets seek equal benefits

By William R. Levesque
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
June 8, 2009

A bill in Congress provides a seemingly straightforward answer to a 
question that has vexed tens of thousands of Americans who served in the 
U.S. military.

Who is a Vietnam veteran?

The answer is vitally important to Navy personnel who served in 
Vietnam's territorial waters. For now, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs' definition of a Vietnam veteran does not include these men and 
women.

Legislation introduced in the House would change that, clearing the way 
for Navy veterans to get disability payments and free health care for 
ailments linked to the herbicide Agent Orange, from type II diabetes to 
a variety of cancers.

At stake: $3 billion in benefits.

The VA says the pool of veterans who would become eligible for benefits 
under the bill is 800,000, a number critics accuse the VA of 
exaggerating to inflate costs that may scare Congress.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1008326.ece

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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