[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 181 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Veterans

  Mr. President, finally, on veterans--this is another one--when I look 
at what this administration is doing, and if every American knew all 
these things, Donald Trump wouldn't stand a chance. This one, I hope, 
will get out.
  I talked a little bit about this yesterday. We all know that so many 
of our young men and women--my generation--went to Vietnam and risked 
their lives. Many of them gave their lives for our country. One of the 
worst aspects of things is that they were not treated as heroes when 
they came home.
  I think America has made up for that now, but here is a way that we 
are not treating them well at all. Many of them were exposed to Agent 
Orange, and it became clear that many got sick from exposure to Agent 
Orange while fighting in Vietnam.
  Well, what the VA has found is that certain illnesses are caused by 
exposure to Agent Orange, and they found that there are four more 
illnesses that have an Agent Orange link. But quietly and secretly, the 
Trump administration denied payments to over 60,000 veterans who had 
these illnesses and who received emergency care at non-VA facilities in 
2017.
  It has missed deadlines to expand the VA caregivers program to 
Vietnam and Korean war veterans, and there are some reports that the 
Trump VA hired doctors on probation, but what is galling at the moment 
is this Agent Orange situation and hiding the report.
  Mulvaney, evidently, the Chief of Staff, just said quietly: We are 
not funding it. It took a Freedom of Information Act action to reveal 
that they were cutting the money off for these folks.
  They went to Vietnam. Some of them volunteered. Some of them were 
drafted. They got sick because of exposure to Agent Orange, and the 
Trump administration, which loves to have rallies with veterans, cuts 
the money off from them, saying that Mulvaney said we couldn't afford 
it.
  These veterans could afford to risk their lives for us. We can afford 
to help them in their hour of need. I hope the administration will 
reverse its decision.
  I yield the floor.

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