After urging support for his amendment on the Senate floor,
Senator successfully passes legislation as part of the must-pass annual defense
bill
Republicans Braun, Cruz, Kennedy, Lee, Paul, Scott of
Florida voted no
(U.S. Senate) – Vietnam veterans suffering from diseases
associated with exposure to Agent Orange are one step closer to receiving
critical care and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
following sustained efforts from U.S. Senator Jon Tester to include his
bipartisan legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – a
must-pass annual defense bill.
Tester took to the Senate floor earlier today to urge his
colleagues to support his amendment which would expand VA’s list of medical
conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange to include Bladder Cancer,
Hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism—health conditions that each meet the
historical standard for being added to the presumptive list for
service-connection as it relates to Agent Orange exposure.
“This is a historic win for thousands of Vietnam veterans who
have been suffering from illnesses after being exposed to Agent Orange, but who
have been unjustly denied benefits for decades,” said Tester, Ranking Member of
the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “With the inclusion of my amendment in
this must-pass defense bill, we are now one step closer to providing our
Vietnam War heroes with the treatment and benefits they deserve from VA. But
our fight is far from over—taking care of our veterans is a continuing cost of
war, and we’ve got to keep extending the list of presumptive conditions to
support an entire population of veterans living with other debilitating
illnesses as a result of their service.”
Currently, thousands of Vietnam veterans living with chronic
health conditions developed as a result of their service are being denied
critical benefits and health care from VA. These veterans have been subject to
additional and unwarranted delays as a result of the Trump Administration’s
repeated calls for further evaluation of scientific research—even though such
research has already been reviewed by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM),
which has established the standard for scientific evidence of association for
more than twenty years. Tester’s amendment would require VA to provide a
presumption of service-connection for Bladder Cancer, Hypothyroidism, and
Parkinsonism—expanding care and benefits for veterans suffering from these
three conditions.
For years, Tester has fought tirelessly to push the Trump
Administration to provide Vietnam veterans the treatment and benefits they
earned. In 2017, he led the charge in urging VA to expand its list of medical
conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange. In 2018, he repeated the
call and urged the Office of Management and Budget to assist the VA in this
effort. Earlier this year, Tester led 42 Senators in blasting the
Administration for stonewalling critical benefits for more than 190,000 Vietnam
veterans suffering from health conditions connected with their service. He also
held a roundtable discussion with Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran
(R-Kans.), stakeholders, and veterans’ advocates to address longstanding issues
associated with the effects of toxic exposures on our nation’s servicemembers
and veterans.
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