Political Quotes

“We are also voting this week on H.R. 299-- it will be this evening--the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which will finally eliminate a 17-year barrier for people who served in the sea services during the Vietnam conflict and who are being denied access to VA benefits for the scourge of Agent Orange illnesses. Again, this is a process that has taken forever. We passed this measure in the last Congress by unanimous vote. It was blocked from consideration by two Senators last December. Congratulations to Mark Takano, our new House Committee on Veterans' Affairs chairman, for bringing up this bill immediately in the new House of Representatives, to make sure that we get this long-overdue justice for people who served in the Vietnam conflict taken care of. Veterans service organizations that have been relentless in their advocacy for blue water Vietnam veterans, such as The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, AMVETS, MOAA, and Military Order of the Purple Heart, are supporting this legislation. It is going to be important for us to get this bill passed out of this Chamber and force the Senate to do the right thing and provide justice for those who served in that conflict and who are still suffering from cancers, from heart disease, and from skin ailments because of exposure to a chemical that they had absolutely no idea was unsafe. ____________________”