Senator Coburn to Vietnam Veterans: No More Agent Orange Claims

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release

July 20, 2011




Mokie Pratt Porter

No. 11-16


Sen. Coburn to Vietnam Veterans:

No More Agent Orange Claims



(Washington, D.C.) – “Sooner or later, some senator or congressman was going to target benefits earned by veterans,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). “It seems that Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) is the one who has taken aim and fired.”



. His amendment would require proof of a “causal relationship” rather than a “positive association” of certain illnesses to Agent Orange exposure. “If enacted, this measure will significantly restrict Agent Orange benefits and care. VVA vigorously opposes this amendment,” Rowan saidSenator Coburn, a medical doctor with a well-earned reputation as a fiscal conservative, has offered an amendment to H.R. 2055, the



“This measure is wrong-headed. It is out of touch with science – and with the intent of the Agent Orange Act of 1991. It attempts to undo two decades of policy. Currently, veterans are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange if they served ‘boots-on-the-ground’ in Vietnam and, in some instances, along the demilitarized zone in Korea,” Rowan said. “If they develop certain maladies that the VA Secretary has determined, on the basis of sound scientific and epidemiological research, that a positive association exists between the exposure and the occurrence of the disease, they are entitled to health-care and disability compensation.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/faces-of-agent-orange/senator-coburn-to-vietnam-veterans-no-more-agent-orange-claims/207585842621884

We sent young men over to Vietnam, and if they were lucky to come back alive, they were scarred for life, physically or emotionally. How can some guy stand on the floor of the Senate and basically deny that we owe those veterans? I don't care if he is a doctor, he has not right to do this.

I'm off to do some research on Coburn. I'd like to know if he is a veteran. Maybe someone on DU already knows and will supply the answer.

background as a member of the Baptist Church. Another person giving Christians a bad name.

often had leukemia. Are we ignoring them also?

down several generations. They are the most heartless people since the robber barons.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected an attempt by Sen. Tom Coburn to require veterans to show Agent Orange caused their conditions before receiving disability payments.

http://newsok.com/senate-defeats-sen.-tom-coburn-amendment-requiring-veterans-to-prove-agent-orange-caused-diseases/article/3587357

Nays: 30
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN-)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY-)
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO-)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA-)
Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN-)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK-)
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS-)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN-)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX-)
Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID-)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC-)
Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY-)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC-)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT-)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX-) Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI-)
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL-)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ-)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT-)
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN-)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ-)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY-)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY-)
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH-)
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID-)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL-)
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL-)
Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA-)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA-)
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS-)

http://capwiz.com/fra/vote.xc/?votenum=114&chamber=S&congress=1121&voteid=51744536&state=US

Agent Orange…Falling Prey to Snake Oil Salesmen


by Ed Mattson

Today was not like every other day for many of us. For veterans having to deal with a proposed amendment to the Military Construction Bill I wrote about earlier, written by Senator (and doctor) Tom Colburn, and co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain, it was “mucho hustle time”.

My mailbox was overflowing with emails since about mid-Wednesday. The Senate was going to weight the validity of an amendment that Sen. Colburn wanted to attach to a bill that was intended to help reduce the federal deficit, by attaching it to the Military Construction Bill that was sure to pass. You see, that’s the problem with the doggone Congress and the Legislators who just can’t understand why the American voter is so angry with them.

>>>>>more


http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/21/agent-orange%e2%80%a6falling-prey-to-snake-oil-salesmen/

But at least I didn't vote for the bastard.