Photo Courtesy of Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato’s Office
“Help these heroes get the recognition and services they are entitled to,” Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato said.
By Forum Staff
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach) recently passed a resolution that urges New York’s Congressional representatives to approve the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017.
The bill would restore the presumption of Agent Orange exposure to those veterans who served in the bays, harbors, and territorial seas of Vietnam, and would correct a U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs policy decision implemented in 2002 that unilaterally stripped these veterans of the presumption of exposure granted by the Agent Orange Act of 1991. In 2002, the VA limited the scope of the law to only those veterans who could provide orders for “boots on the ground” in Vietnam; boots on the ground encompassed infantry and the riverine Navy. As a result, veterans who served in the waters off Vietnam, commonly known as “Blue Water Veterans,” were forced to file individual claims with the VA to restore their benefits, which are then decided on a case-by-case basis; the VA has denied more than 32,000 claims through 2009.
“We literally owe these brave men and women everything. I am urging the NYS Congressional delegation to listen to the NYS Legislature and pass this vital piece of legislation to help these heroes get the recognition and services they are entitled to,” Pheffer Amato said.
The assemblywoman noted that the resolution, which was passed on March 5, was transmitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from New York; John Rowan, president, Vietnam Veterans of America; and Ned D. Foote, president, and Vietnam Veterans of America New York State Council urging them to pass the bill.
