[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S184-S185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorials was laid before the Senate and 
was referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-97. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of Guam 
     requesting for the United States Congress to appropriate 
     monies for Guam non-military residents who were exposed to 
     Agent Orange and who are suffering from ailments caused by 
     exposure to Agent Orange; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                          Resolution No. 29-37

       Whereas, I Liheslaturan Guahan finds that with the passing 
     of the ``Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics 
     Act of 2022'' (PACT Act), the United States government 
     finally recognized that U.S. military veterans stationed in 
     Guam within the twenty-two (22) year timeframe of 1958 and 
     1980 were exposed to Agent Orange and consequentially 
     suffered ailments. However, the PACT Act was not inclusive of 
     non-veterans who were also exposed to Agent Orange and also 
     suffered ailments at the same time as their military veteran 
     counterparts who are now eligible for Agent Orange Disability 
     Compensation; and
       Whereas, Agent Orange belongs to a class of color-coded or 
     rainbow herbicides. The properties of Agent Orange consist of 
     a fifty-fifty (50/50) mixture of two (2) herbicides: 2, 4-D 
     and 2, 4, 5-T, as well as the toxic contaminant, Dioxin, 
     otherwise known as 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachloro-dibenzo para-
     dioxin, or TCDD. Other harmful herbicides containing Dioxin 
     include Agents White, Blue, Purple, Pink, and Green. Dioxin 
     buried or leached under the surface or deep in the sediment 
     of rivers and other bodies of water can have a half-life of 
     more than one hundred (100) years; and
       Whereas, on August 10, 2022, for the first time, the U.S. 
     territory of Guam was added to the list of locations eligible 
     for Agent Orange Disability Compensation; and thus ended 
     decades of the U.S. military's persistent denial that Agent 
     Orange was used on the island of Guam. The PACT Act also 
     incorporated the ``Lonnie Kilpatrick Central Pacific Relief 
     Act'' which was named after the late veteran who led the 
     fight for recognition of Agent Orange use on Guam, which is 
     noted at the 117th Congress, First (1st) Session, in H.R. 
     3368; and
       Whereas, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
     submitted the GAO-19-24 report to the U.S. Congress. 
     Published in November of 2018, the detailed report relative 
     to Agent Orange use on Guam indicates that not all shipment 
     records pertaining to the disposal of Agent Orange were 
     complete, including shipment documentation and logbooks that 
     identify ports where vessels made stops enroute to Southeast 
     Asia. The GAO states that of the 13.9 million gallons of 
     Agent Orange obtained by the U.S. Department of Defense 
     (DOD), the GAO collected and examined shipment documents for 
     more than 12.1 million of those gallons. After scrutinizing 
     ninety-six percent (96%) of the logbooks for the 
     aforementioned shipments, they discovered that among the 
     vessels traveling to Southeast Asia, at least one (1) vessel 
     carrying Agent Orange made a stop on Guam; and
       Whereas, during the Vietnam War, the Andersen Air Force 
     Base in Guam served as the cornerstone of U.S. airpower in 
     the conflict. To support bombing operations, B-52s were 
     amassed on the base in the fall of 1972. Testimony presented 
     to the U.S. Congress clearly demonstrated that during that 
     time, Agent Orange was sprayed, among other places, at 
     Andersen Air Force Base along the fence line, flight line, 
     sidewalks, and golf course; at Naval Air Station along the 
     fence line and flight line; and along the Cross Island Road 
     oil pipeline that ran between the two (2) military bases, all 
     of which are now the subject of substantial, credible reports 
     of herbicide application by Vietnam-era veterans. This was 
     strongly asserted and confirmed in the ``NVLSP (National 
     Veterans Legal Services Program) And VLSC (Veterans Legal 
     Services Clinic) White Paper Confirming That Veterans Who 
     Served in Guam from 1958-1980 Were Likely Exposed to Dioxin-
     Containing Herbicide Agents including Agent Orange'' issued 
     by the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic in May 
     of 2020, and updated in February of 2021; and
       Whereas, I Liheslaturan Guahan recognizes the disparity 
     between the unequal treatment of military personnel and non-
     military personnel exposed to Agent Orange; and a large 
     number of Guam residents who were civilians and non-military 
     have testified to having similar exposure to Agent Orange 
     resulting in similar ailments as the U.S. military veterans, 
     but are not covered by the PACT Act; now therefore, be it
       Resolved, That I Mina'trentai Siette Na Liheslaturan Guahan 
     does hereby, on behalf of the people of Guam, strongly urge 
     the United States Congress and the Executive Branch of the 
     U.S. Government to treat Guam residents and non-veterans in 
     the manner equal to the treatment now given to military 
     veterans in providing funding and compensation to those who 
     are suffering from ailments as a result of exposure to Agent 
     Orange on Guam; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Speaker certify, and the Legislative 
     Secretary attest to, the adoption hereof, and that copies of 
     the same be thereafter transmitted to the Honorable Joseph R.

[[Page S185]]

     Biden, Jr., President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States; the 
     Honorable Michael S. Regan, Administrator of the U.S. 
     Environmental Protection Agency; the Honorable Mike Johnson, 
     Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable 
     Tom Carper, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works 
     Committee of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable James C. Moylan, 
     Guam Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives; and to 
     the Honorable Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, I Maga'hagan Guahan.
                                  ____

       POM-98. A resolution adopted by the Council of the Borough 
     of South River, Middlesex County, New Jersey opposing H.R. 
     3557 ``American Broadband Act of 2023''; to the Committee on 
     Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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