(Sen.) Webb wary of expanded Agent Orange benefits

[unhappycamper]

Webb wary of expanded Agent Orange benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 9, 2010 15:49:22 EDT

A $13.4 billion expansion of Agent Orange-related benefits for Vietnam veterans could be delayed because a key senator wants more information on why three new conditions are being added to the list of disabilities assumed to have been caused by the herbicide.

This could delay payments by at least two months, maybe longer, from whatever date the Veterans Affairs Department publishes its final implementation rules.

The Senate included money to cover the benefits in the $58.8 billion supplemental spending bill passed on May 27, but only after approving an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that prevented the money from being spent until Congress has time to review final regulations for expanding the benefits. Webb wants 60 days for Congress to review and approve or disapprove of the policy.

Whether Webb’s limitations will stand is unclear. The House is still preparing its version of the supplemental bill, which is not expected to contain the same restrictions. Differences between the House and Senate bills would have to be reconciled before a final bill passes.

At issue is a VA announcement in October that it intends to add three medical conditions — hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease — to the list of disabilities presumed to have a connection to exposure to Agent Orange, the defoliant widely used during the Vietnam War.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Isn't that a sad attitude for someone who served in Viet Nam and whose son is in the military?

[Scuba]

2. Screwing us veterans again.

[marmar]

3. Jim Webb has turned out to be a bust......

nt