THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY MOUL, BELFANTI, BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, BOBACK, BOYD, BRADFORD, CAUSER, CLYMER, CONKLIN, D. COSTA, CUTLER, DiGIROLAMO, FLECK, GEIST, GEORGE, GINGRICH, GROVE, GRUCELA, HARHART, HARKINS, HESS, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, KULA, LONGIETTI, MAJOR, MANN, MARSHALL, MENSCH, MILLARD, MURPHY, MURT, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PAYNE, PHILLIPS, PYLE, RAPP, READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROAE, ROCK, SABATINA, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, SWANGER, TRUE, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON, YOUNGBLOOD AND GOODMAN, JULY 10, 2009

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, JULY 10, 2009  

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Relating to the presumption of a service connection for Agent

Orange exposure for certain Navy and Air Force veterans and

calling on the Congressional Delegation of the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania to fully support and fund passage of the

Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009.

WHEREAS, During the Vietnam Conflict, the United States

military sprayed more than 19 million gallons of Agent Orange

and other herbicides over Vietnam to reduce forest cover and

crops used by the enemy; these herbicides contained dioxin,

which has since been identified as carcinogenic and has been

linked with a number of serious and disabling illnesses now

affecting thousands of veterans; and

WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States passed the Agent

Orange Act of 1991 to address the plight of veterans exposed to

herbicides while serving in Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, The act amended Title 38 of the United States Code

to presumptively recognize as service-connected, certain

diseases among military personnel who served in the Vietnam

Conflict between 1962 and 1975; and

WHEREAS, This presumption has provided access to appropriate

disability compensation and medical care for Vietnam veterans

diagnosed with such illnesses as Type II diabetes, Hodgkin's

disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia,

multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers and soft-

tissue sarcomas; and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to a 2001 directive, the Department of

Veterans Affairs policy has denied the presumption of a service

connection for herbicide-related illnesses to Vietnam veterans

who could not furnish written documentation that they had "boots

on the ground" in-country, making it virtually impossible for

countless United States Navy and Air Force veterans to pursue

their claims for benefits; and

WHEREAS, Many who had landed on Vietnamese soil could not

produce proof due to incomplete or missing military records,

moreover, personnel who had served on ships in the "Blue Water

Navy" in Vietnamese territorial waters were, in fact, exposed to

dangerous airborne toxins, which not only drifted offshore but

also washed into streams and rivers draining into the South

China Sea; and

WHEREAS, Warships positioned off the Vietnamese shore

routinely distilled seawater to obtain potable water; and

WHEREAS, A 2002 Australian study found that the distillation

process, rather than removing toxins, in fact, concentrated

dioxin in water used for drinking, cooking and washing; and

WHEREAS, This study was conducted by the Australian

Department of Veteran Affairs after it found that Vietnam

veterans of the Royal Australian Navy had a higher rate of

mortality from Agent Orange-associated diseases than did Vietnam

veterans from other branches of the military; and

WHEREAS, When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

studied specific cancers among Vietnam veterans, it found a

higher risk of cancer among Navy veterans; and

WHEREAS, Agent Orange did not discriminate between soldiers

on the ground and sailors on ships offshore, and legislation to

recognize this tragic fact and restore eligibility for

compensation and medical care to Navy and Air Force veterans who

sacrificed their health for their country is critical; and

WHEREAS, When the Agent Orange Act passed in 1991 with no

dissenting votes, Congressional leaders stressed the importance

of responding to the health concerns of Vietnam veterans and

ending the bitterness and anxiety that had surrounded the issue

of herbicide exposure; and

WHEREAS, Congress should reaffirm the nation's commitment to

the well-being of all of its veterans and direct the Department

of Veterans Affairs to administer the Agent Orange Act under the

presumption that herbicide exposure in Vietnam includes the

country's inland waterways, offshore waters and airspace;

therefore be it

RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania respectfully urge the

Congress and President of the United States to restore the

presumption of a service connection for Agent Orange exposure

for United States Navy and Air Force veterans who served on the

inland waterways, territorial waters and in the airspace of

Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania forward official copies of this resolution to the

President of the United States, to the President of the Senate

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United

States, and to all the members of the Pennsylvania delegation to

the 111th Congress urging the members of the delegation to

support and fund the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009 and with

the request that this resolution be officially entered in the

Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United

States of America.