00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25(MLV) 01 Urging the United States Congress to restore the presumption of a service connection for 02 Agent Orange exposure to United States Veterans who served in the waters defined by 03 and in the airspace over the combat zone in Vietnam. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS, during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed over 06 19,000,000 gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over Vietnam to reduce forest cover 07 and crops used by the enemy; those herbicides contained dioxin, which has since been 08 identified as carcinogenic and has been linked with numerous serious and disabling diseases 09 affecting thousands of veterans; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to 11 address the plight of veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in the Republic of Vietnam; 12 the Act amended Title 38 of the United States Code presumptively to recognize as service- 13 connected certain diseases among military personnel who served in Vietnam between 1962 14 and 1975; that presumption has provided access to appropriate disability compensation and 15 medical care for Vietnam veterans diagnosed with illnesses such as Type II diabetes, 01 Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple 02 myeloma, peripheral neuropathy, AL Amyloidosis respiratory cancers, and soft tissue 03 sarcomas, and others yet to be identified; and 04 WHEREAS, under a 2001 directive, the United States Department of Veterans 05 Affairs has denied the presumption of a service connection for herbicide-related illnesses to 06 Vietnam veterans who cannot furnish written documentation that they had "boots on the 07 ground" in-country, making it virtually impossible for countless United States Navy, Marine, 08 and Air Force veterans to pursue their claims for benefits; moreover, personnel who served on 09 ships in the "Blue Water Navy" in Vietnamese territorial waters were, in fact, exposed to 10 dangerous airborne toxins, which not only drifted offshore but washed into streams and rivers 11 draining into the South China Sea; and 12 WHEREAS the United States Navy has been excluded from coverage under the 13 Agent Orange Act of 1991 although Agent Orange has been verified, through various studies 14 and reports, to be a wide-spreading chemical that was able to reach Navy ships through the air 15 and through waterborne distribution routes; and 16 WHEREAS warships positioned off the Vietnamese coast routinely distilled seawater 17 to obtain potable water; a 2002 Australian study found that the distillation process, rather than 18 removing toxins, in fact concentrated dioxin in water used for drinking, cooking, and 19 washing; the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs conducted that study after it found 20 that Vietnam veterans of the Royal Australian Navy had a higher rate of mortality from 21 diseases associated with Agent Orange than did Vietnam veterans of other branches of the 22 military; and 23 WHEREAS the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 24 higher risk of specific cancers among United States Navy veterans than among veterans of 25 other branches of the military; and 26 WHEREAS herbicides containing dioxin did not discriminate between soldiers on the 27 ground and sailors on ships offshore; and 28 WHEREAS Representative Christopher Gibson and 168 cosponsors, including 29 Representative Don Young, introduced the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2013; 30 and 31 WHEREAS more than 30 Veterans' Service Organizations support the Blue Water 01 Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2013; and 02 WHEREAS, by not passing the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2013, a 03 precedent could be set selectively to provide certain groups with injury-related medical care 04 while denying that care to other groups, without any financial, scientific, or consistent 05 reasoning; and 06 WHEREAS, when the Agent Orange Act of 1991 passed with no dissenting votes, 07 congressional leaders stressed the importance of responding to the health concerns of Vietnam 08 veterans and ending the bitterness and anxiety that had surrounded the issue of herbicide 09 exposure; the federal government has also demonstrated its awareness of the hazards of Agent 10 Orange exposure through its involvement in the identification, containment, and mitigation of 11 dioxin "hot spots" in Vietnam; and 12 WHEREAS the United States Congress should reaffirm the nation's commitment to 13 the well-being of all of its veterans and direct the United States Department of Veterans 14 Affairs to administer the Agent Orange Act of 1991 under the presumption that herbicide 15 exposure in the Republic of Vietnam included inland waterways, offshore waters, and 16 airspace, encompassing the entire combat zone; 17 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 18 Congress to restore the presumption of a service connection for Agent Orange exposure to 19 United States Veterans who served in the waters defined by the combat zone and in the 20 airspace over the combat zone. 21 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 22 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 23 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 24 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 25 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Bernie 26 Sanders, Chair, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the Honorable Richard Burr, 27 Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the Honorable Eric K. 28 Shinseki, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and 29 the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 30 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.