[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 121 (Friday, September 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10019-S10020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     VA BENEFITS TO CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS WITH SPINA BIFIDA

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today Senator Daschle has brought 
before us an issue that provokes much emotion and raises more questions 
about the use of agent orange in Vietnam. Senator Daschle amendment 
would treat and compensate Vietnam veterans' children with spina 
bifida, a terrible defect of the neural tube, the embryonic structure 
that extends from the spinal cord to the brain. Compensation would 
entail a monthly monetary allowance, depending on the degree of the 
condition. About 2,700 children with spina bifida are estimated to be 
entitled to care and compensation under this amendment. The amendment 
has the support of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Legion 
and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
  Senator Daschle's amendment responds to the administration's 
announcement in April, following the release of a National Academy of 
Sciences report in March, listing spina bifida as having limited/
suggestive evidence of an association with herbicidal exposure in 
Vietnam. The VA does not currently have the authority to extend health 
care or compensatory benefits to the children of veterans. This 
amendment would provide that authority.
  I have fought for years for equitable treatment for Vietnam veterans 
afflicted with conditions associated with agent orange exposure. I was 
very pleased that in 1991 Congress passed the Agent Orange Act. Under 
this act if there is adequate evidence of a link between military 
service in Vietnam and a medical conditions, benefits are provided by 
the Veterans' Administration.
  Opponents of the Daschle amendment argue that the evidence supporting 
this amendment is fragile. I have looked at the evidence myself and I 
must admit, I cannot disagree with them. The estimates of how many 
children will be affected by this legislation are not firm because 
there are no reliable means of determining if a parent of a spina 
bifida child actually served in an area affected by agent orange. The 
evidence may not improve much because of the inadequacies of the 
records kept by the Department of Defense [DOD] in tracking veterans 
during their service in Vietnam as well as the rate of birth defects in 
their children. Thankfully, it seems the DOD avoided this for veterans 
of the gulf war and, with the Persian Gulf Registry, for their 
children.
  Another cause for concern in supporting this amendment is the 
precedent it sets by providing a new entitlement to the children of 
veterans. Some may use this amendment as a tool to obtain Federal 
compensation to other veterans' children suffering from a medical 
illness and Congress should avoid providing entitlements to more groups 
without some evidence.
  In crafting statutes for presumptive treatment for agent orange 
veterans, I believed treatment is necessary because the Government has 
an obligation to treat ill veterans if reasonable evidence suggests 
there is a causal relationship between service and a medical condition. 
By definition, presumption is subject to question. Countless families 
of Vietnam veterans have suffered because of agent orange. The lack of 
irrefutable scientific evidence had long delayed many of the benefits 
to which Vietnam veterans are entitled. This amendment will provide 
assistance to some of these families and, although will not take away 
the pain caused by spina bifida, it will at least ease the financial 
burden. This is the

[[Page S10020]]

least we can to for this group of veterans that have suffered so much 
already.

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