Senate Unanimously Passes the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, Chairman Mark Takano released the following statement after the Senate unanimously passed the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, H.R. 299. 

“Tonight, we can finally tell the tens of thousands of veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War but wrongly denied benefits that justice is finally coming. By passing the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, Congress has proven to the nation, to our veterans and their families, and the surviving loved ones of those we lost to toxic exposure, that we have righted a terrible injustice. I want to say thank you to the Veteran Service Organizations and the countless veterans across the country who have been with us throughout this fight. Thank you for never losing hope that this country would deliver on the promise it made to our veterans. Now we call on President Trump to sign HR 299 and finally finish this fight-- these veterans have waited long enough.”

Background:

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 will extend benefits to servicemembers that served in the territorial waters off the coast of Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange. This was the first bill Chairman Takano introduced this Congress after a similar bill was passed unanimously in the House of Representatives last Congress but stalled in the Senate. This legislation will ensure tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans finally get the benefits they’ve earned and deserve.

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