Bills aim to aid vets injured by herbicide

Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have reintroduced legislation aiding veterans who were exposed to toxic herbicides while serving in Thailand.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, introduced the Senate version earlier this month. U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs, filed similar legislation in the House last month. U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, is one of the House bill’s co-sponsors.

Currently, veterans who worked along or near their bases’ perimeter can present evidence that they are ill as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.

The powerful herbicide and defoliant was used at seven U.S. bases in Thailand during the Vietnam War era, the military acknowledges.

But service members who weren’t stationed near the perimeters are prevented from making their cases.

That would change if Boozman’s bill becomes law.

Once there is a “presumption of service connection,” between a disease and exposure to deadly herbicides, the presumption would apply “without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed,” it states.

Lawmakers introduced the legislation after hearing from Bill Rhodes, a Mena man who blames his long list of illnesses on exposure to Agent Orange in 1973 while serving in Thailand.

The bill has been endorsed by officials with the group Disabled American Veterans. Veterans of Foreign Wars officials have also favored widening the presumption.

Westerman filed separate legislation last month, aimed at helping sick Vietnam veterans who helped store and transport defoliating chemicals.

If approved, the “presumption of service connection” for these veterans would be expanded to include those suffering from urinary, bladder or prostate cancer, hypothyroidism, hypertension, Parkinson’s disease or one of four other maladies.