{"id":59375,"date":"2019-05-14T23:20:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T23:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/14\/plan-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-benefits-on-the-move-again\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:23:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:23:44","slug":"plan-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-benefits-on-the-move-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2019\/05\/14\/plan-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-benefits-on-the-move-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan for \u2018blue water\u2019 Vietnam veterans benefits on the move again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/12\/11\/deal-to-extend-benefits-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-appears-dead-for-this-year\/\" target=_blank>second time in the last 12 months<\/a>, House lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a measure to ease disability benefit rules for veterans who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2017\/09\/02\/advocates-hope-to-restart-debate-over-benefits-for-blue-water-navy-vets\/\" target=_blank>served on ships off the coasts of Vietnam<\/a> and suffered serious illnesses they insist are connected to chemical defoliant exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, once again, advocates are left waiting to see if the Senate will follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation \u2014 the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act \u2014 passed 410-0 with strong messages of support from both Democratic and Republican leadership. House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., said the move is needed to correct what he called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/01\/29\/court-rules-va-must-pay-disability-benefits-to-blue-water-vietnam-veterans\/\" target=_blank>years of mistakes in denying those veterans disability benefits<\/a> for their injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongress has failed our blue water Navy veterans, plain and simple,\u201d he said on the House floor before the vote. \u201cToday, we will right this wrong \u2026 This bill is the quickest and clearest route to delivering benefits to those who served. They have waited long enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/03\/26\/va-recommends-dropping-legal-challenge-over-blue-water-navy-veterans-benefits\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_660915014.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA recommends dropping legal challenge over \u2018blue water\u2019 Navy veterans benefits<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Federal officials have until the end of April to formally decide whether to appeal a court ruling which could grant disability benefits to more than 90,000 veterans.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure affects about 90,000 veterans who served on ships during the Vietnam War but never set foot in the country. If they had, they would be eligible for presumptive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, a process which bypasses hard evidence connecting a veteran\u2019s illness to their military service because of an established presumed connection between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So while a veteran who served on the shoreline can receive disability payouts after contracting Parkinson\u2019s disease or prostate cancer, a veteran who served on a ship a few miles away would have to provide specific scientific evidence that they were exposed to toxic chemicals while on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates have said that is all but impossible to do decades after the war, with limited monitoring and water testing documentation still available. As a result, many \u201cblue water\u201d veterans have been denied disability benefits, despite contracting some of the same illnesses as their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that VA officials have improperly interpreted the law in denying those claims, essentially awarding the benefits to the entire class of veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials have recommended against an appeal of that ruling, but Department of Justice officials have not yet made a final decision. The deadline for an appeal was extended by the Supreme Court until the end of this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">House lawmakers argued that regardless the outcome of the legal case, Congress should act now. The chamber approved nearly identical legislation last summer, again by an unanimous vote. The bill ultimately was blocked by a pair of senators in the waning days of the last legislative session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has backed the measure in the past and promised to address the issue again at some point this year, but has also said he wants see how the court case is resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters in the House said they don\u2019t want to wait for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongress should not wait for this issue to work itself out through VA or the courts,\u201d said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., ranking member on the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/05\/04\/new-blue-water-veterans-deal-could-mean-benefits-for-90000-vietnam-war-troops\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_6509050420.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New \u2018blue water veterans\u2019 deal could mean benefits for 90,000 Vietnam War troops<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Paying for disability benefits of the Vietnam War veterans would be covered by a new VA home loan fee.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese veterans have waited long enough to receive acknowledgment from VA \u2026 Five hundred and twenty three Vietnam veterans are dying each day. So if the VA and this government waits long enough, (they\u2019ll) all die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure has support of a host of veterans groups, including Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, officials from the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association and Military-Veterans Advocacy have announced opposition to the measure, saying the geographical parameters laid out in the measure are more restrictive than what the court order earlier this year included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers have also argued that Congress needs to act to find a way to pay for the additional costs of extending disability benefits to the \u201cblue water\u201d veterans. Congressional Budget Office officials had estimated the new awards could total about $1.1 billion over 10 years, but VA officials said the figure could rise to more than $5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation adds a new fee on some VA home loans to raise money for those expenses, although disabled veterans would be exempt from those costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the second time in a year, House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a measure to give presumptive disability benefits to veterans who served on ships stationed near Vietnam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":100913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,93,12,25,67,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-59375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QX6CWO7F2JERNCZMS2GXSOQZQI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/14\/plan-for-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-benefits-on-the-move-again\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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