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General Assembly Senate Joint
Resolution No. 18
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2166
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
RESOLUTION MEMORIALI ZING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS
TO ENACT THE AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE FAIR NESS ACT OF
2019.
Resolved by this Assembly:
WHEREAS, Agent Orange was used by the United States military 1
during the Vietnam War; 2
WHEREAS, Agent Orange is a potent herbicide that contains a toxic 3
molecule, known as dioxin; 4
WHEREAS, many United States military veterans who served in the 5
Vietnam War were exposed to Agent Orange; 6
WHEREAS, Agent Orange has been strongly associated with the 7
development of cancer and birth defects in veterans and their children; 8
WHEREAS, the likelihood of having a child born with birth defects is 9
approximately one-third greater for veterans who were exposed to 10
Agent Orange than for veterans who were not exposed to Agent Orange; 11
WHEREAS, the United States Code sets forth the requirements that 12 Senate Joint Resolution No. 18
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must be met in order to grant "presumptions of service connection", or 13
the assumption that a veteran's disability was caused by service in the 14
Vietnam War; 15
WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs currently provides 16
presumptions for the following eight conditions: (1) Non-Hodgkin's 17
lymphoma, (2) Hodgkin's disease, (3) soft-tissue sarcoma (excluding 18
osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and mesothelioma), 19
(4) respiratory cancers, (5) Diabetes Mellitus (type 2), (6) multiple 20
myeloma, (7) chloracne or other acneform disease, and (8) Porphyria; 21
WHEREAS, the United States Code requires that any veteran 22
suffering from chloracne or other acneform disease or from Porphyria 23
must manifest symptoms of the disease within one year after the end of 24
such veteran's service in the Vietnam War in order to qualify for 25
benefits; 26
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment to the Unites States Code, 27
known as the Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act of 2019, would 28
remove the time-based requirement for veterans suffering from 29
chloracne or other acneform disease or from Porphyria, allowing 30
veterans to claim compensation regardless of when their conditions 31
began, so long as their conditions are on the approved list and manifests 32
to a degree of disability of ten per cent or more; 33
WHEREAS, Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act of 2019 would add 34
acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy to the list of approved 35
conditions; 36
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Connecticut General 37
Assembly calls upon the Congress of the United States to protect 38
veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides during their 39
service in the Vietnam War by enacting the Agent Orange Exposure 40
Fairness Act of 2019; and 41
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the clerks of the Senate and House 42
cause copies of this resolution to be sent to each member of the 43 Senate Joint Resolution No. 18
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Connecticut congressional delegation. 44