January 25, 2017

Ranking Member Walz Statement on VA Presumptive Service Connection Announcement Related to Camp Lejeune

Washington, DC – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement regarding the Department of Veteran’s Affairs announcement of regulations to establish presumptions for eight service connected diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, N.C.:

“This decision is the right call to ensure that veterans who have been affected by the contaminated water supply get the care and compensation they need.  We owe nothing less to those brave men and women who have served.”

Walz has been a strong supporter of legislation in Congress to address the health concerns of service members impacted by the water contamination and exposure to toxic chemicals. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee most recently supported the continued study of associations between diseases and exposure to Agent Orange.

At the end of the last Congress, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs introduced two pieces of legislation that address toxic exposure among veterans: the Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2016; both of which passed into law.

These laws require:

  • The National Academy of Sciences to review medical research on children of veterans who were exposed to toxic chemicals, as well as authorizes the study of the association between diseases and exposure to dioxin and chemical compounds in herbicides,
  • The VA to create a research advisory board to study health conditions that may be linked to toxic exposure, and
  • The VA to research whether toxic chemical exposure is linked to birth defects and developmental disabilities in children born to veterans exposed to harmful and toxic chemicals.