Bill Would Extend Benefits to Sick Blue-Water Navy Vets

A bill pending before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat blue-water Navy veterans of the Vietnam war who became sick as a result of their exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. Committee chairman Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., sponsored the measure. The Senate introduced a comparable bipartisan measure in December, only to have it defeated because Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., was concerned about its costs. The Senate effort required 100-percent approval to move forward. Enzi chairs the Senate Budget Committee.