LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to support the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2011

WHEREAS, Senators Gillibrand and Graham introduced the Agent Orange
Equity Act of 2011 (AOEA); the bill was presented to restore VA benefits
to approximately 250,000 Navy veterans who have been exposed to Agent
Orange while serving in the Vietnam War; and
WHEREAS, Currently, Navy veterans who served in Vietnam are unable to
receive disability or health benefits for medical issues related to the
effects of Agent Orange because of a technicality stemming from 2002;
and
WHEREAS, Presently, there is a Bill in the Senate, S-1629 (AOEA), and
in the House, HR-3612, seeking to help Navy service members affected by
Agent Orange gain benefits; and
WHEREAS, According to Cancer.org, and VA.gov/AgentOrange, the United
States military sprayed an estimated 20 million gallons of herbicides in
Vietnam to remove jungle foliage; Agent Orange is a toxic chemical with
devastating effects and strong links to several forms of cancer and
numerous neurological diseases; and
WHEREAS, Initially, Congress passed a law that required the VA to
provide coverage to all Vietnam veterans who had illnesses directly
related to Agent Orange exposure; in 2002, the VA, in what the The Blue
Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association alleges as "possible selective
discrimination", decided to provide the health care and disability bene-
fits only to "boots on the ground" service members; and
WHEREAS, The United States Navy has been excluded ever since; Agent
Orange has been verified, through various studies and reports, as a wide
spreading chemical that was able to reach Navy ships through the air and
waterborne distribution routes; and
WHEREAS, The bill presented by Senators Gillibrand and Graham would
elucidate the existing laws; Blue Water veterans would be able to
receive full coverage from the VA if they served 12 miles off of the
Vietnam shore; the problem is, bills like AOEA have gone before Congress
in past years; and
WHEREAS, Recommending the passing of AOEA provides our veterans the
support they need to overturn this technicality and improve their quali-
ty of life; benefits should be provided to those who became ill as a
result of their service to our country; and
WHEREAS, More than 30 Veterans Service Organizations support the Agent
Orange Equity Act of 2011; by not passing AOEA, a precedent could be set
to selectively provide certain groups with injury related medical care
while denying other groups without any financial, scientific or consist-
ent reasoning; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to support
the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2011; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.