The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association (BWN) Point of Discussion in Congress!

April 13, 2014 - PRLog -- The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association (BWN) is the focus of Congressional legislation that orders a change to the Department of Veterans Affairs policies. Why? The VA oversees and provides health care and compensation benefits to Vietnam veterans- but not all of them. There is a loophole in the current standards guide stating veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange but who didn’t have their boots on the ground are not eligible for these benefits.  BWN has been fighting to restore these benefits for those who have served our great country during the Vietnam War. http://bluewaternavy.org/

“The VA has acknowledged symptoms and illnesses connected with serving in Vietnam as directly associated with exposure to herbicides containing dioxin used during that War. Any veteran who had boots-on-the-ground, and who has any of the qualifying diseases, is automatically granted VA health care and compensation benefits, per the Agent Orange Act of 1991,” said John Rossie, Executive Director for BWN. “The trouble is that as of 2002 the VA decided it would eliminate offshore personnel from eligibility because they didn’t have their boots on the ground, and they declared this group of veterans as ineligible for those VA benefits. This decision was not based on any medical or scientific data.  These are the vets our group is fighting for!”

As of April 10, 2014, HR-543, the Bill designed to rectify this injustice, has 188 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. In an effort to show Congress that the support for HR-543 truly exists at the grass-roots of the American population, the BWN developed a Resolution in Support of HR-543 and presented that to several legislative agencies through the country at different levels.

“The Resolution in Support has not been turned down by any agency, but several state governments were unable to incorporate consideration of the Resolution into their 2014 schedule because they were either too far along in the process or had already concluded their annual state legislative assembly,” concluded John Rossie.

Members of the media are being encouraged to interview Mr. Rossie and veterans who have been denied health and financial compensation as a result of the current loophole, which – again- is unfounded.

Media Contact:

Helene Vece

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