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House bill to provide Agent Orange health coverage for 'Blue Water Navy' vets of Vietnam War passes 382-0

By James A. Jones Jr.
In this May 1966 file photo, a U.S. Air Force C-123 flies low along a South Vietnamese highway spraying defoliants on dense jungle growth beside the road to eliminate ambush sites for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, Air Force C-123 planes sprayed millions of gallons of herbicides over the jungles of Southeast Asia to destroy enemy crops and tree cover.
In this May 1966 file photo, a U.S. Air Force C-123 flies low along a South Vietnamese highway spraying defoliants on dense jungle growth beside the road to eliminate ambush sites for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, Air Force C-123 planes sprayed millions of gallons of herbicides over the jungles of Southeast Asia to destroy enemy crops and tree cover. (AP Photo/Department of Defense, File)

The U.S. House approved legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, to restore health coverage for 90,000 Navy veterans who were potentially exposed to the toxic chemical Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The bill passed the U.S. House in a bipartisan vote of 382-0 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act (H.R. 299) would provide VA health benefits for Navy veterans who served on ships and ports off the coast of Vietnam during the war. Navy veterans who served in Vietnam, commonly referred to as “Blue Water” veterans, were eligible to receive benefits under the Agent Orange Act of 1991, but their eligibility was discontinued in 2002 by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Exposure to the toxic herbicide has been linked to prostate cancer, Parkinson’s disease, respiratory cancers, ischemic heart disease and more.

And while Blue Water veterans have experienced identical diseases to their fellow soldiers who served on land in Vietnam just miles away from them, they don’t have identical coverage. Currently, only veterans who served on land in Vietnam are eligible for benefits for illnesses tied to Agent Orange.

Veterans from the 16th Congressional District are among those who have been exposed to Agent Orange-contaminated water.

“We drank it, we bathed in it, we cooked in it and we climbed all over the planes that flew through it,” said Ronald Babcock, a Lakewood Ranch resident and Vietnam War veteran.

The U.S. Air Force sprayed nearly 11 million gallons of Agent Orange in Vietnam to defoliate jungles and remove cover used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers.

Congressman Vern Buchanan announced Tuesday that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to provide VA medical benefits to bluewater Navy veterans of the Vietnam War suffering from exposure to Agent Orange. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Congressman Vern Buchanan announced Tuesday that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to provide VA medical benefits to bluewater Navy veterans of the Vietnam War suffering from exposure to Agent Orange. The bill now goes to the Senate. Bradenton Herald file photo

“Passage of this is bill is long overdue,” Buchanan said. “Denying these veterans health coverage is a gross injustice that must be fixed. Navy veterans fought and sacrificed just like their fellow soldiers who served on land in Vietnam.”

Despite the VA’s decision to terminate coverage, a 2005 study by the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs found that Australian Navy veterans who served in Vietnam had approximately twice the rate of cancer than Army veterans.

Buchanan said the arbitrary distinction between serving on land or on sea shouldn’t be a factor in any veteran’s access to VA health care. Regardless of where they were exposed to this deadly chemical, all veterans should be treated equally in their access to health care.

“The VA was created to care for veterans and promises ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle,’” Buchanan said. “In order to live up to that promise the VA cannot turn its back on Blue Water veterans.”

Buchanan also co-sponsored this legislation in the previous Congress and has called on the House Veterans Affairs Committee to pass the legislation and “step up for Blue Water veterans.”

The legislation is supported by several of the nation’s leading veterans service organizations, including the Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Veterans Advocacy, Fleet Reserve Association, and Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association. A companion bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate.

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 4:20 PM with the headline "House bill to provide Agent Orange health coverage for 'Blue Water Navy' vets of Vietnam War passes 382-0."

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