Co-sponsors added to H.R. 1769 the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015

Congressman Dan Benishek (MI-1) has introduced H.R.1769, the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015, cosponsored by Congressman Mike Honda (CA-17th). This legislation, when passed into law, would establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a national center for the diagnosis and treatment of the health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances during service in the Armed Forces.

The following members of Congress are cosponsors in support of H.R. 1769:

Rep. Paul Grijalva (AZ-3) -- 6/1/2015
Rep. Paul Cook (CA-8)-- 4/30/2015
Rep.  Barbara Lee (CA-13) -- 6/2/2015
Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-28) -- 6/1/2015
Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33) -- 6/1/2015
Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2) -- 6/2/2015
Rep. Elizabeth H. Esty (CT-5) - 4/14/2015
Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. David Jolly (FL-13) -- 4/29/2015
Rep. Dennis Ross (FL-15) -- 4/29/2015
Rep. Theodore Deutch (FL-21) -- 6/2/2015
Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22) -- 5/12/2015
Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-2) -- 4/30/2015
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (GU-AL) -- 5/20/2015
Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-5) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (IL-8) -- 4/22/2015
Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17) -- 4/28/2015
Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-3) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-1) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-2) -- 4/22/2015
Rep. John Conyers (MI-13) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5) -- 5/20/2015
Rep. Ann Kuster (NH-2) -- 4/28/2015
Rep. Lee M. Zeldin (NY-1) -- 4/21/2015
Rep. Peter King (NY-2) -- 5/19/2015
Rep. Steve Israel (NY-3) -- 4/28/2015
Rep. Charles Rangel (NY-13) -- 5/13/2015
Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-14) -- 5/12/2015
Rep. John Katko (NY-24) -- 5/19/2015
Rep. Chris Collings (NY-27) -- 6/2/2015
Rep. Robert E. Latta (OH-5) -- 4/22/2015
Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-6) -- 4/28/2015
Rep. Ryan Costello (PA-6) -- 4/29/2015
Rep. Keith Rothfus (PA-12) -- 5/12/2015
Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1) -- 5/12/2015
Rep. Beto O'Rourke (TX-16) -- 5/13/2015
Rep. Gerald Connolly (VA-11) -- 4/29/2015

If your member is not on the list, VVA urges you to take action now! Go to our Legislative Action site at http://capwiz.com/vva/home/ , enter your Zip Code, and send the prepared letter to your Representative, asking them to join their colleagues and cosponsor H.R. 1769, the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015.

Please follow-up your letter with a call or visit to their offices.

Thank you for your support.

Dangerous Chemical? World Health Organization (WHO) Examines Big Ag’s 2,4-D Herbicide Used in Agent Orange

http://www.globalresearch.ca/dangerous-chemical-world-health-organization-who-examines-big-ags-24-d-herbicide-used-in-agent-orange/5453275
When the World Health Organization recently declared that the herbicide ingredient glyphosate was ‘probably carcinogenic,’ numerous countries responded with bans, serious inquiries, and boycotts of Monsanto’s Roundup. Now, the WHO is now set to review another Big Ag chemical, 2,4-D, just three months after Monsanto was delivered news it couldn’t swallow. You can bet Big Ag is nervous.

It isn’t as if this ‘bad’ news is ‘big news’ to most of us in the GMO-awareness movement. We’ve been sounding the warning sirens about these products for decades. What matters is that a WHO declaration that a product is cancerous finally gives government agencies and local municipalities the extra ‘oomph’ they need to take decisive action against agribusiness companies who are poisoning us and the planet.
The herbicide 2,4-D is set to be examined by twenty-four scientists representing the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The review will occur at a meeting scheduled for June 2nd– 9th in Lyon, France.
A totally separate group of IARC scientists were the ones who delivered a death blow to Monsanto, but a joyful recognition to all those who have been negatively affected by Big Ag chemicals. It meant that things were finally changing.
Many believe the new scientific panel could deliver a similar fate to makers of 2,4-D, the main ingredient used in Vietnam, known around the world as Agent Orange.
Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union believes they will upgrade 2,4-D’s status as a dangerous chemical, which would then prompt a similar reaction to Monsanto’s Glyphosate – bans, consumer boycotts, and more.
With the obvious reference in our history of the Vietnam War, the case for 2,4-D is even more open and shut than with glyphosate. Dow representatives say there is no cancer link, but IARC scientists Maria Leon, and others, say that there are multiple cancer connections triggered by 2,4-D exposure.
Should the WHO’s declaration concerning 2,4-D be similar to that given for glyphosate, that means first Monsanto, and then Dow Chemical would be knocked down to size within months. Big Ag, the world is asking for you to pay your karmic debt. It starts now.

Just Released: Agent Orange Newsletter

The summer 2015 issue of the Agent Orange Newsletter includes important updates for Vietnam Veterans, and other Veterans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange during military service.

Start reading today to learn more about:

• New research on the health of Vietnam Veterans
• Agent Orange exposure locations
• VA’s Agent Orange Registry health exam
• How to reduce the impact of type 2 diabetes on your health
•  http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/publications/agent-orange/agent-orange-summer-2015/index.asp

D-Day, June 6, 1944 - Thank You!

News from Birth Defect Research for Children - Because Every Birth Defect has a Cause

VETERAN RESEARCH

 Because Every Birth Defect has a Cause

    

MORE at BDRC.org

   

Popular Garden Herbicides Can Harm Your Pets

http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/environmental-health/herbicides-round-up-pet-health-monsanto-2-4-d/

With summer around the corner, chances are that we all will spend more time in our gardens. If you are someone who takes pride in having the perfect green lawn, then this alert is for you…

Deadly lawn

All those easy-to-buy herbicides and lawn treatments, the ones that kill the weeds and make your backyard look like a perfect cricket pitch, could be downright deadly for your pets.

One of the most widely used herbicides in the world is called 2,4-D — named after the ingredients that were used in Agent Orange — and it was used during the Vietnam War by the US government who sprayed Agent Orange (or Herbicide Orange) on their enemies’ crops to disrupt their food supply.

According to a study by one Vietnamese scientist, Dr Nguyen Viet Nhan, children in the areas where Agent Orange was used have multiple health problems, including cleft palate, mental disabilities, hernias, and extra fingers and toes.

Suffice to say, if exposure to 2,4-D has such a detrimental effect on human health, can you imagine what it will do to Rover and Pickles when they roll around on your lawn?

In fact, studies have found that dogs are much more sensitive to the toxic effects of 2,4-D than people are. It can cause acute kidney failure in puppies, and may even cause deadly cancers.

Researchers have found that dogs living in homes where 2,4-D was used died of cancer at twice the expected rate. The dogs were much more prone to develop lymphomas and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.

You’ll also want to steer clear of Monsanto’s Roundup (glyphosate), another popular herbicide. The instructions will say that once dry, the area is safe for pets to be in. But the chemical has been found to cause diseases ranging from hormone disruption to all kinds of cancers.

So, how can you get that perfect lawn without damaging the health of your pets?

Here are some tips from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on how to maintain a great looking lawn without using toxic herbicides:

• - Mow your lawn high, often and with sharp blades: This will produce stronger grass that has fewer pest problems. The EPA says that the ideal length for most turf grasses is between 2 ½ and 3 ½ inches.
• - Don’t bag the clippings: By leaving the grass clippings where they fall you’ll not only be saving time and trouble, but will be recycling nitrogen that will make your grass healthier.
• - Water deeply but not too often: The best way to water your lawn is one that is similar to a slow, soaking rain. And water only when the grass begins to wilt from dryness.

If you use a gardening service to maintain your lawn, be sure to tell them that your garden is a toxic herbicides-free zone. After all, what fun is a beautiful garden and lawn when you have to post a sign on it saying “keep off the grass.”

AGENT ORANGE TOWN HALL MEETINGS - Mark Your Calendar!

June 6, 2015

St Cloud, Minnesota

9 am- 3pm

St Cloud Whitney Center

1529 Northway Drive,

St Cloud, MN 56303

Contact: Maynard Kaderlik

507-581-6402

June 26, 2015

Reno, Nevada

7:00 pm

The Silver Legacy

407 N Virginia St,

Reno, NV 89501

(Room to be updated)

Contact: Terry Hubert

(775) 849-9544

June 28, 2015

Carson City, Nevada

11:00 am

Western Nevada College

2201 W College Pkwy,

Carson City, NV 89703

Contact: Terry Hubert

(775) 849-9544

June 28, 2015

Cumberland, Maryland

2:00pm-5:00 pm

801 Virginia Avenue

Cumberland, MD 21582

VVA Chapter 172

Contact: Bob Hartman

(301) 620-2180

ret1sgusar@aol.com

July 14, 2015

Reading, PA

Exeter Township School High School

201 East 37th Street

Reading, PA 19606

9am-5:00 pm

Contact Dale Derr 610-378-5601

August 1, 2015

Cherokee, North Carolina

12:00-6:00 PM

Cherokee Fairgrounds

Expo Hall, Cherokee, NC.

VVA Chapter 994 and American Legion Post 143.

North Carolina State Council

Contact:

Rossie Nance

910-465-0683

Allan Perkal

perkman@mac.com

September 17, 2015

Green Bay, Wisconsin

4:30 pm. 

Green Bay Yacht Club

100 Bay Beach Road

Green Bay, WI 54302

Contact:

Mike Demske

michael.demske@yahoo.com

September 19, 2015

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

1:00pm-4:00 pm

VVA Chapter 415

Northampton Community College

Lipkin Theatre, Kopecek Hall

3835 Green Pond Rd,

Bethlehem, PA 18020

Contact: Mike Regrut

darnmike07@gmail.com

The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=1

Participants and victims of this secret chapter of the Iraq war discuss exposure to chemical weapons.

It was August 2008 near Taji, Iraq. They had just exploded a stack of old Iraqi artillery shells buried beside a murky lake. The blast, part of an effort to destroy munitions that could be used in makeshift bombs, uncovered more shells.

Two technicians assigned to dispose of munitions stepped into the hole. Lake water seeped in. One of them, Specialist Andrew T. Goldman, noticed a pungent odor, something, he said, he had never smelled before.

He lifted a shell. Oily paste oozed from a crack. “That doesn’t look like pond water,” said his team leader, Staff Sgt. Eric J. Duling.

The specialist swabbed the shell with chemical detection paper. It turned red — indicating sulfur mustard, the chemical warfare agent designed to burn a victim’s airway, skin and eyes.

All three men recall an awkward pause. Then Sergeant Duling gave an order: “Get the hell out.”

Five years after President George W. Bush sent troops into Iraq, these soldiers had entered an expansive but largely secret chapter of America’s long and bitter involvement in Iraq.

From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.

In all, American troops secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, according to interviews with dozens of participants, Iraqi and American officials, and heavily redacted intelligence documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The United States had gone to war declaring it must destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program. Instead, American troops gradually found and ultimately suffered from the remnants of long-abandoned programs, built in close collaboration with the West.

The New York Times found 17 American service members and seven Iraqi police officers who were exposed to nerve or mustard agents after 2003. American officials said that the actual tally of exposed troops was slightly higher, but that the government’s official count was classified.

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Fighting for Frederick Update!

You may not know this, but my both of my grandfathers worked for Fort Detrick. Two of my aunts, two of my uncles, and my best friend all worked there as well.
My Aunt Lena Dinterman was so convinced that Fort Detrick killed her husband that she protested and filed suit against the fort for years and finally won her case.
My mother and father met at Frederick High School, dated and got married in Frederick. I attended Thomas Johnson High School, and what will really shock you is that I too worked at Fort Detrick (they don't even know that because I was a private contractor). I have all my roots in Frederick, MD and love Frederick and the whole area.
Like it or not!! I didn't choose this battle, it chose me! Until your daughter dies in your arms you have no idea of the pain, and now all of you have become my friends!
THIS WEEK WE WON A GREAT VICTORY !! The Supreme Court overrode the statue of limitation (5-4). This is truly a miracle and a huge plus for everyone that received the form letters from Fort Detrick. I know some of you, along with my team have been frustrated by the attorney not calling or contacting you. I want to let you know that we have fixed that problem and I just want to make double sure your claim form has not been overlooked.
Please be very patient with me. I am doing my best and could use your help by calling Susan Funk directly (727) 512-7272 to make sure we have a copy of your claim form.
I have a date set where you will soon sit down with all of our law firms who will answers all questions in person.  THIS WILL BE BY INVITE ONLY which is why it's important to make double sure we have all the people who filed.  
Lastly, it would have been easy for me to take my time and money and just sought justice only for my daughter Kristen, but for some reason I feel this is a part of my destiny in life to help you. I don't know if you believe in an higher power or supreme being or anything at all, but there is a scripture I stand on now; "If God be for us who can be against us?"
I want you to know I am in this until the end, I love you and I hear you. Please forgive me if I have failed you in anyway, but let's move forward, rise up and build together!

Sincerely,

Randy White

Just a dad who cares about others sons and daughters...

Kristen Renee Foundation
www.KristenRenee.org

PO Box 20914

Tampa, FL 33622

Agribusiness nervous as WHO cancer unit analyzes popular pesticide

http://www.gazetteherald.com/agribusiness-nervous-as-who-cancer-unit-analyzes-popular-pesticide-2/129220/

The World Health Organization is about to look at a extensively used pesticide and agribusiness is bracing for dangerous information, lower than three months after the group categorized one other in style herbicide as “in all probability” cancer-causing.

Twenty-four scientists representing WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will analyze scientific findings relating to hyperlinks between most cancers in people and the herbicide referred to as 2,Four-D at a June 2-9 assembly in Lyon, France. A separate group of IARC scientists in March unanimously determined to categorise glyphosate, the important thing ingredient in Monsanto Co’s Roundup weedkiller, as “in all probability carcinogenic to people.” The designation prompted outrage and requires a retraction from Monsanto, and calls for by some public officers and shoppers for bans on the pesticide.
Many consider the identical might occur for two,Four-D.

“I do assume they’re going to improve 2,Four-D,” stated Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union who has served on an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in addition to an skilled on WHO session tasks.
“There is simply as robust, or perhaps a stronger case (for hyperlinks to most cancers), on 2,Four-D than there was for glyphosate,” he stated.


IARC’s work is of specific concern to Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co. The firm manufactures 2,Four-D and this yr is rolling out a product that mixes 2,Four-D with glyphosate after approval from the Environmental Protection Agency final yr.
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VA Blue Water Agent Orange lawsuit dismissed

http://www.wadenapj.com/opinion/commentary/3753594-va-blue-water-agent-orange-lawsuit-dismissed

Navy veterans who served primarily on warships off the coast of Vietnam during the war cannot sue for Agent Orange benefits, a federal judge ruled. "The court is sympathetic to the many challenges faced by veterans and their families," U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote 11 MAR. "However, Congress chose to shield VA benefits decisions from review or channel them into specific courts, and the court therefore has no jurisdiction to hear these claims."

U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange and petroleum across the Vietnamese countryside in the 1960s and 1970s as part of Operation Ranch Hand, a program to defoliate Vietnamese jungles and destroy food supplies during the Vietnam War. The chemicals washed into rivers and streams and eventually into the bed of the South China Sea. Under the Agent Orange Act, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs affords a presumption that Agent Orange is responsible if any veteran "who served in the Republic of Vietnam" develops a certain disease. Those veterans are entitled to benefits without actually proving exposure, but the VA has published a series of regulations defining service in Vietnam over the years. Veterans who were not "on the ground" in Vietnam and have thus been denied an Agent Orange presumption sued the VA in 2013 through two organizations, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association and the Military-Veterans Advocacy Inc. They say proving Agent Orange exposure is nearly impossible given the death of records about the chemical's use.
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