Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 299

Floor Speech

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Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Connecticut.

Right now, tens of thousands of American heroes are suffering and even dying while some folks in government are looking the other way, refusing to heed their calls for help. Our blue water veterans answered the call when their Nation needed them in the thick of the Vietnam war. They left their loved ones, boarded ships, fought the Viet Cong, and risked their lives hour after hour, day after day, in service to the country they love.

We made a promise to them: Fight for us overseas, and we will fight for you when you get back home. When you step back on U.S. soil, we will bandage the wounds you earned in combat, making sure you never feel you sacrificed in vain.

I am ashamed to say that promise has been broken. For decades now, our government has refused to give them the healthcare and disability benefits needed to treat diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure despite the fact that they serviced the very aircraft that sprayed and spread the chemical. Despite that they breathed in the air and brushed their teeth with water that was likely laced with the poison, they have not been given the healthcare they need.

Those same healthcare benefits have been extended to other troops who fought in the same war during the same years, but because these blue water veterans fought the enemy on the water rather than on Vietnam soil itself, our government won't lift a finger to stop their suffering. Tell me that is fair. Tell me that makes a shred of sense. Tell me that our Nation should abandon the heroes who risked their lives for the rest of us, that we should leave them to die from cancer or heart disease or the litany of other diseases we know this chemical causes.

Look, I have also gone to war, and just as those Americans lost their health, I was wounded for this country. But from the moment I woke up in Walter Reed, I knew that the VA would give me the care I needed to recover. These nearly 90 thousand veterans deserve the same. It is long past time we pass legislation ensuring that these heroes are not left in pain.

Unfortunately, legislation that would recognize their sacrifice suffered a setback last week, but with the time remaining in this Congress, we still have the chance to make those veterans whole, to do the right thing, the obvious thing, the American thing.

To every one of my fellow Senators, please, if we actually want to honor their service, we can't just give them an ovation on Veterans Day; we need to take action to help them lead full, healthy lives every other day of the year too. Right now, that means joining me in working to pass the Blue Water Navy Veterans Act before even one more hero dies a preventable death on our watch. It is the right thing to do.

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