More than 84,000 Vietnam veterans afflicted with heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B-cell leukemia are drawing disability compensation today thanks to a decision by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to expand the list of ailments presumed caused by exposure to herbicides, including Agent Orange, used during that war.
Though these payments comfort veterans and their families, they have upset some Republican senators who argue they are "unfair" to fellow veterans and taxpayers, and drive up VA compensation claims at a time when budgets are tightening and needs are expanding for new veterans.
"We are transferring a half million dollars to veterans under this decision by Secretary Shinseki for people who weigh 350 pounds, smoke three packs of cigarettes a day, and have hypercholesterolemia because they will not take their medicine," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., complained to colleagues during floor debate on his recent amendment to tighten the law.
Coburn's amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs Appropriations Act of 2012 was tabled on a motion from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
Coburn will continue to try to narrow the Agent Orange law and trim back authority of the VA secretary for expanding the list of presumptive diseases, said his press aide, Becky Bernhardt.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, endorsed Coburn's amendment.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam veteran like McCain, voted with fellow Democrats to table the amendment. But Webb, who serves on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, later released a statement saying he agreed with Coburn that the 1991 law "is too vague" and "gives too much discretion to the secretary of veterans affairs."
The Source
No comments:
Post a Comment