Thomas Daschle: “today, with 19 of my colleagues, I am introducing the Agent Orange Benefits Act of 1996. This legislation is an…”

“today, with 19 of my colleagues, I am introducing the Agent Orange Benefits Act of 1996. This legislation is an important step toward easing the burden of innocent, indirect victims of our country's use of agent orange during the Vietnam war. The bill would extend health care and related benefits, including a monthly monetary allowance, to Vietnam veterans' children suffering from spina bifida--a serious neural tube birth defect that requires lifelong care. This bill is a necessary followup to the Agent Orange Act of 1991, which I coauthored with Senators Kerry and Cranston and Representative Lane Evans and which unanimously passed the Senate. Among other things, the Agent Orange Act required the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] to contract with the Institute of Medicine [IOM], which is part of the National Academy of Sciences [NAS], to conduct a scientific review of all evidence pertaining to exposure to agent orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam and the subsequent occurrence of disease and other health-related conditions. The law required an initial report, which was issued by NAS in 1993, followed by biennial updates for 10 years. The first update was published by NAS last March. In accordance with the law, Vietnam veterans are not required to prove exposure to agent orange; the law presumes that all military personnel who served in Vietnam were exposed to agent orange.”