The Supreme Court this week
granted a 30-day extension to Department of Justice officials contemplating an
appeal of a lower court ruling in January which extended presumptive benefits
to tens of thousands of Navy veterans who have claimed exposure to toxic
chemical defoliants during the Vietnam War.
But advocates say they are not
concerned by the move, calling it a typical legal maneuver and not a serious
threat to getting benefits to the group of so-called “blue water” veterans.
“This just seems to be going through the
motions,” said John Wells, retired Navy commander and the executive director
Military-Veterans Advocacy, which has lobbied on the issue for years. “It’s not
a setback for us. Veterans Affairs Secretary (Robert) Wilkie has told us this
was not initiated by his department.”
Will the benefits for ‘blue
water’ Vietnam veterans be settled soon?
Lawmakers are planning a
flurry of moves to address the issue of the Vietnam veterans benefits in coming
weeks.
In January, a federal court
ruled that VA officials for years has used faulty reasoning to deny disability
benefits to veterans who served in ships off the waters of Vietnam.
VA officials had argued that
for years that existing law established only that troops who served on the
ground on on ships close to shore were entitled to the presumption of exposure
to chemical defoliants like Agent Orange, speeding the process for their disability
benefits.
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