{"id":24462,"date":"2018-07-17T19:31:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T19:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/17\/senate-plans-path-ahead-for-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:24:32","slug":"senate-plans-path-ahead-for-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/07\/17\/senate-plans-path-ahead-for-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate plans path ahead for \u2018blue water Navy\u2019 benefits fix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Senate lawmakers will start their work next month on legislation to extend disability benefits for <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>nearly 90,000 veterans<\/a> who worked around toxic chemicals during the Vietnam War but have been denied compensation for that exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee is planning an Aug. 1 hearing on the issue, one that committee <a href=\"http:\/\/caucus.militarytimes.com\/speaker\/johnny-isakson\/\" target=_blank>Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga<\/a>., has called a \u201ctop priority\u201d for the remainder of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation dealing with the plight of <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\u201d Vietnam veterans<\/a>, adding a new Veterans Affairs home loan fee to pay for the $1.1 billion needed to cover benefits costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters of that measure had pushed for the Senate to quickly approve the measure, but Isakson has said he wants to hold public debate on the issue to ensure that lawmakers aren\u2019t overlooking needed improvements to the proposal.<\/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 are current VA regulations regarding veterans who served on ships off the coastline of Vietnam but never set foot in the country. Tens of thousands of those \u201cblue water\u201d veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants, which have led to rare cancers and other illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But under existing rules those veterans must provide proof of exposure to the chemicals to receive disability benefits. In contrast, troops who served on the mainland or patrolled inland rivers during the war are assumed to have been working with or near Agent Orange and are given special expedited status when filing disability benefits claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers in recent years pushed to fix the oversight, but struggled with how to cover the costs. The compromise reached last month would add a new fee to veterans\u2019 home loans that would cost a typical buyer about $350 over 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But nearly half of all borrowers \u2014 including disabled veterans \u2014 will be exempt from the fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The House-passed bill also 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\">And the measure makes several additional changes to the VA home loan program, including eliminating the cap on loans department officials can offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate lawmakers have expressed general support for the measure but thus far have been focused on the confirmation process for VA secretary nominee Robert Wilkie. That work is expected to be completed later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Isakson said he hopes to move forward on the \u201cblue water\u201d fix in coming months but has not given a timeline on when the process may be completed. If the measure is signed into law, veterans will still likely have a months-long wait before VA officials establish procedures and rules for paying out the new benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/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 a&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cwITWoSjvm\">https:\/\/t.co\/cwITWoSjvm<\/a><\/p>&mdash; VVA (@VVAmerica) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VVAmerica\/status\/1019236330629423104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 17, 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>Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans denied disability benefits could be helped by a bill already passed by the House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50925,"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":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19,65],"tags":[8478],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-24462","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","category-your-navy","tag-va-benefits"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HHVAWTAPXJBIJECQCP3X43MVJU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/07\/17\/senate-plans-path-ahead-for-blue-water-navy-benefits-fix\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senate plans path ahead for \u2018blue water Navy\u2019 benefits fix - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans denied disability benefits could be helped by a bill already passed by the House.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate plans path ahead for \u2018blue water Navy\u2019 benefits fix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans denied disability benefits could be helped by a bill already passed by the House.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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