FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A bipartisan group of senators led by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and
Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today
called on VA Secretary Robert McDonald to ensure that veterans long
denied care for exposure to
Agent Orange receive timely and proper benefits and compensation. The
letter follows a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) study that provides
new and compelling evidence on exposure to Agent Orange of veterans who
flew contaminated aircraft after the Vietnam
war.
Burr
and Merkley were joined in a letter by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR),
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Michael Bennet
(D-CO).
The
IOM study, which was published in January, found “with confidence” that
post-Vietnam veterans serving on C-123 aircrafts were exposed to
potentially dangerous levels
of dioxin from aircrafts that were used to carry and spray Agent Orange
during the Vietnam War and that were never properly decontaminated.
According
to the study, an estimated 1500-2100 personnel served on the affected
planes, and numerous veterans among that group have developed symptoms,
including cancer,
consistent with Agent Orange exposure.
The senators pushed the VA to reverse previous decisions that have denied veterans benefits and compensation, writing:
“Despite
(1) multiple Air Force reports going back to 1979 showing that the
C-123s were contaminated, (2) numerous expert opinions from inside and
outside the government
suggesting these veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and other
toxins, and (3) a judge’s order stopping the resale of these C-123s
because the planes were a ‘danger to public health,’ the VA to-date has
doggedly insisted there is no possibility that post-Vietnam
era C-123 veterans might have been exposed to dangerous levels of Agent
Orange. It also has denied all but one of the C-123 veterans’ claims
for benefits.”
They
continued, “It is our desire to see that C-123 veterans who suffer
today because of service-related exposure to Agent Orange receive the
help they need. To speed the
award of benefits, we ask that you provide a presumption of service
connection for these veterans.”
The
senators also called on the VA to immediately review all C-123 Agent
Orange exposure claims, including those that have been denied and are
under appeal, and to work
with the Department of Defense to proactively contact all veterans who
served on any C-123s previously used in Vietnam to spray Agent Orange
defoliant that were subsequently assigned to Air Force Reserve units
based in the United States from 1972-1982 in order
to notify these veterans that they may be eligible for benefits.
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