Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR17 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Hinojosa S.C.R. No. 17
2	2	(Smith)
3	3
4	4
5	5	SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, During the Vietnam War, the United States military
7	7	sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides
8	8	over Vietnam to reduce forest cover and crops used by the enemy;
9	9	these herbicides contained dioxin, which has since been identified
10	10	as carcinogenic and has been linked with a number of serious and
11	11	disabling illnesses now affecting thousands of veterans; and
12	12	WHEREAS, Many American civilians were also exposed to dioxin
13	13	through their employment in places such as stateside repair depots
14	14	for military helicopters; in addition, Vietnamese Americans who
15	15	immigrated in the 1970s and early 1980s may have suffered exposure
16	16	in their native land; and
17	17	WHEREAS, The United States Congress passed the Agent Orange
18	18	Act of 1991 to address the plight of veterans exposed to herbicides
19	19	while serving in the Republic of Vietnam; the Act amended Title 38
20	20	of the United States Code to presumptively recognize as
21	21	service-connected certain diseases among military personnel who
22	22	served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975; this presumption has
23	23	provided access to appropriate disability compensation and medical
24	24	care for Vietnam veterans diagnosed with such illnesses as Type II
25	25	diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic
26	26	lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer,
27	27	respiratory cancers, and soft-tissue sarcomas; and
28	28	WHEREAS, Pursuant to a 2001 directive, United States
29	29	Department of Veterans Affairs policy has denied the presumption of
30	30	a service connection for herbicide-related illnesses to Vietnam
31	31	veterans who cannot furnish written documentation that they had
32	32	"boots on the ground" in-country, making it virtually impossible
33	33	for countless United States Navy and United States Air Force
34	34	veterans to pursue their claims for benefits; many who landed on
35	35	Vietnamese soil cannot produce proof due to incomplete or missing
36	36	military records; moreover, personnel who served on ships in the
37	37	"Blue Water Navy" in Vietnamese territorial waters were, in fact,
38	38	exposed to dangerous airborne toxins, which not only drifted
39	39	offshore but also washed into streams and rivers draining into the
40	40	South China Sea; and
41	41	WHEREAS, Warships positioned off the Vietnamese shore
42	42	routinely distilled seawater to obtain potable water; a 2002
43	43	Australian study found that the distillation process, rather than
44	44	removing toxins, in fact concentrated dioxin in water used for
45	45	drinking, cooking, and washing; this study was conducted by the
46	46	Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs after it found that
47	47	Vietnam veterans of the Royal Australian Navy had a higher rate of
48	48	mortality from Agent Orange-associated diseases than did Vietnam
49	49	veterans from other branches of the military; when the United
50	50	States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied specific
51	51	cancers among Vietnam veterans, it found a higher risk of cancer
52	52	among United States Navy veterans; and
53	53	WHEREAS, Agent Orange did not discriminate between soldiers
54	54	on the ground and sailors on ships offshore, and legislation to
55	55	recognize this tragic fact and restore eligibility for compensation
56	56	and medical care to United States Navy and United States Air Force
57	57	veterans who sacrificed their health for their country is critical;
58	58	civilians who came into contact with this poisonous substance
59	59	through their employment or while residing in Vietnam likewise
60	60	should be eligible for appropriate medical care to treat illnesses
61	61	related to their exposure; and
62	62	WHEREAS, Civilians who were exposed to Agent Orange through
63	63	their employment have special difficulty receiving care and
64	64	compensation for related conditions, as they must file their claims
65	65	through the United States Department of Labor, which requires them
66	66	to furnish proof of a causal connection between their jobs and their
67	67	illnesses; such proof is difficult to provide, since cancer and
68	68	other diseases that can be caused by exposure tend to develop over
69	69	long periods of time; and
70	70	WHEREAS, When the Agent Orange Act passed in 1991 with no
71	71	dissenting votes, congressional leaders stressed the importance of
72	72	responding to the health concerns of Vietnam veterans and ending
73	73	the bitterness and anxiety that had surrounded the issue of
74	74	herbicide exposure; the federal government has also demonstrated
75	75	its awareness of the hazards of Agent Orange exposure through its
76	76	involvement in the identification, containment, and mitigation of
77	77	dioxin "hot spots" in Vietnam; and
78	78	WHEREAS, The United States Congress should reaffirm the
79	79	nation's commitment to the well-being of all of its veterans and
80	80	direct the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to
81	81	administer the Agent Orange Act under the presumption that
82	82	herbicide exposure in the Republic of Vietnam includes the
83	83	country's inland waterways, offshore waters, and airspace;
84	84	similarly, Congress should institute a presumption of connection to
85	85	employment for civilians exposed to Agent Orange in their
86	86	workplaces to ensure they have access to the health care they need;
87	87	now, therefore, be it
88	88	RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
89	89	hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
90	90	restore the presumption of a service connection for Agent Orange
91	91	exposure to United States Navy and United States Air Force veterans
92	92	who served on the inland waterways, in the territorial waters, and
93	93	in the airspace of the Republic of Vietnam and to institute a
94	94	presumption of connection to employment for civilians exposed to
95	95	Agent Orange in their workplaces; and, be it further
96	96	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
97	97	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
98	98	the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of
99	99	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
100	100	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
101	101	this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record
102	102	as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.