{"id":58340,"date":"2019-04-17T15:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T15:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/17\/will-the-benefits-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-be-settled-soon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:51:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:51:25","slug":"will-the-benefits-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-be-settled-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2019\/04\/17\/will-the-benefits-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-be-settled-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Will the benefits for \u2018blue water\u2019 Vietnam veterans be settled soon?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The fate of disability benefits for \u201cblue water\u201d Vietnam veterans<\/a> will be among the key topics lawmakers tackle when they return from their district break at the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, a federal court ruled that the Department of Veterans Affairs 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 extending the benefits to an additional 90,000 veterans would cost as much as $5 billion over 10 years, a figure that advocates have disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced plans to reinforce that ruling and establish a permanent fix<\/a> for those veterans, who claim exposure to cancer-causing chemical defoliants has caused a host of rare cancers and respirator illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already the chairman and ranking member of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee have introduced similar plans<\/a>, and that House panel is preparing for an expansive hearing on the topic early next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\t