[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 181 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Agent Orange

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I stand here today because the Trump 
administration continues to turn its back on our Nation's veterans, 
many who are suffering from illnesses relating to Agent Orange.
  Agent Orange is a very toxic defoliant that was used in Vietnam. 
Everybody who was there was exposed to it because it was used in such 
great volume.
  By denying eligibility to the folks who have suffered from that 
exposure the benefits and care they need, they are not doing right by 
our veterans. The fact is, there is no logical reason behind it except 
for the fact that they don't want to pay for it. They don't think the 
exposure to these toxic chemicals in Vietnam are a cost of war. Well, 
they are.
  Today, we are telling Acting Chief of Staff and Acting Office of 
Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and other White House 
officials to do their jobs and make sure these veterans are taken care 
of.
  It is time for this White House to do right by the 83,000 veterans--
that is 83,000--who are currently suffering and dying from significant 
health conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure. This 
administration--the Trump administration--needs to stop ignoring the 
overwhelming scientific evidence put forth by medical experts, 
scientists, and veterans.
  Internal documents obtained by a veteran through the Freedom of 
Information Act revealed that in 2017 President Trump's first VA 
Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin, tried to do right by these veterans. At 
that time, the VA proposed to expand the list of presumptive health 
conditions associated with this toxic herbicide to include bladder 
cancer, Parkinson's-like symptoms, and hypothyroidism so that these 
veterans could become eligible for the benefits they earned if they had 
these conditions, but Mick Mulvaney and the White House objected. They 
didn't want to spend the money. They said they wanted more studies--
studies that would have effectively run out the clock as more and more 
of these veterans suffered and died.
  Since then, the National Academy of Medicine found evidence that 
hypertension has even greater evidence of association to Agent Orange 
exposure than the conditions Dr. Shulkin attempted to address. Yet the 
White House still refuses to take care of these veterans. They refuse 
to expand the list to include these four conditions: parkinsonism, 
bladder cancer, hypertension, and hypothyroidism.
  More have suffered and more have died. These are Vietnam veterans who 
are in their sixties, seventies, and eighties. But this 
administration--the same folks who are quick to beg for nearly $20 
billion for an ineffective border wall that Mexico was supposed to pay 
for and who are happy to put a $1.5 trillion tax bill on the 
government's credit card--refuses to recognize that this is a cost of 
war and that they need to do right by the Vietnam veterans--veterans 
who have already waited decades for the benefits and the care they 
desperately need.
  It is pretty simple. Do the right thing. If you claim to be an 
advocate for the veterans, no more excuses and end the wait for these 
veterans and their families. These veterans and their families have 
already sacrificed greatly, and they should not be forced to wait 1 
minute longer. This issue needs to be dealt with, and it needs to be 
dealt with today.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.