{"id":27964,"date":"2018-08-01T20:22:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T20:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/01\/va-officials-strongly-oppose-congress-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:15:09","slug":"va-officials-strongly-oppose-congress-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/08\/01\/va-officials-strongly-oppose-congress-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"VA officials push back on Congress\u2019 blue water Navy benefits fix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans Affairs officials strongly opposed l<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/04\/new-blue-water-veterans-deal-could-mean-benefits-for-90000-vietnam-war-troops\/\" target=_blank>egislative plans to extend disability payouts to roughly 90,000 veterans<\/a> who claim exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, saying the move could set a problematic precedent for future benefits awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe science is not there, and what we do depends upon science,\u201d said Paul Lawrence, under secretary for benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But advocates for so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2017\/09\/02\/advocates-hope-to-restart-debate-over-benefits-for-blue-water-navy-vets\/\" target=_blank>\u201cblue water Navy\u201d<\/a> veterans argued that VA officials are willfully ignoring an abundance of evidence showing veterans\u2019 exposure to toxic chemicals, and demanding evidence that could only have been collected more than four decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese people were exposed, how much they were exposed doesn\u2019t make a difference,\u201d said Rick Weidman, executive director at the Vietnam Veterans of America. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t put that all together 40 years later.\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\/veterans\/2018\/06\/25\/house-passes-benefits-fix-for-ailing-blue-water-veterans-now-awaits-senates-move\/\" 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=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_680301069.jpg_437c97.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\">House passes benefits fix for ailing \u2018blue water\u2019 veterans, now awaits Senate\u2019s move<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The bill would provide disability payouts for about 90,000 veterans who served on ships off the coast of Vietnam.<\/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\">At issue is a change in VA policy 15 years ago that excluded veterans serving on ships off the coast of Vietnam \u2014 known as \u201cblue water Navy veterans\u201d \u2014 from being included in a class of former service members presumed to be exposed to Agent Orange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For troops who served on the ground or in inland rivers, exposure to the chemical defoliant is assumed, which speeds up the medical and disability benefits process when those veterans later contract a host of illnesses related to chemical contamination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the blue water veterans still must prove they were directly exposed to Agent Orange for their illnesses to be labeled as service-connected. Legislation passed by the House last month would force VA to extend the presumptive benefits to veterans who served aboard those ships, and use a new VA home loan fee to pay for the estimated $1 billion in costs it would incur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawrence said forcing VA to go against their established \u201cscientific\u201d standards would set a dangerous precedent in future benefits disputes. He also said processing the new claims could add $500 million in new costs over the next decade, and cast doubt over whether the new VA home loan fees would cover the costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials also testified that they already have a \u201cliberal\u201d policy for Vietnam War veterans who may have been exposed to chemical defoliants. Cancers and severe illnesses found among the blue water veterans, they argued, may simply be the result of aging or unrelated health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several senators took exception to that idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis bill wouldn\u2019t be needed if these veterans were getting the care they needed after showing symptoms (of toxic exposure),\u201d said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. \u201cWe should have taken care of our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Administration officials and veterans groups offered contrasting views on scientific studies regarding ship-based veterans\u2019 exposure to the chemicals, and whether runoff from the coastline could have contaminated drinking water for miles out to sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans also complained that VA summarily rejects claims even when evidence suggests those ships visited inland ports, an accusation that Lawrence said is an unfortunate exception if it happens at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with the blue water veterans, the House-passed bill extends presumptive exposure status to veterans who served in the Korean Peninsula demilitarized zone beginning in September 1967 and lasting until August 1971, the same end date for the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., indicated he is hopeful a fix can be found for the issue, but also promised a thorough examination of the issue before the Senate moves ahead. Several lawmakers have pushed for quick passage of the House measure, but Isakson appears opposed to that idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That likely means several more months of waiting before any resolution on the legislation. The Senate is scheduled to go on recess next week before working on nominations issues for the rest of August. House lawmakers aren\u2019t scheduled back in Washington until September, and both chambers will break again in October in advance of the November mid-term elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on August 1, 2018, will be holding a legislative hearing for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 and other bills. VVA fully supports this bill as passed in the House as H.R. 299, on June 25, by&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AN95JvMFPF\">https:\/\/t.co\/AN95JvMFPF<\/a><\/p>&mdash; VVA (@VVAmerica) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VVAmerica\/status\/1023987468658331648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 30, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House lawmakers&#8217; fix would give disability benefits to up to 90,000 veterans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28355,"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":25,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,116,117,15,35,25,146],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347],"class_list":["post-27964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-retirement-e-report"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VOOH4ILE6VCTZK44W3OQCRI7MA","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/08\/01\/va-officials-strongly-oppose-congress-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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