Rep. Cisneros Pushes VA Officials on blue Water Navy Veterans Claims

Statement

Today, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) questioned VA officials on the proposed plan for implementation of Blue Water Navy Veteran claims following its delay. Rep. Cisneros is a cosponsor of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which was signed into law this year and extends benefits to service members that served in the territorial waters off the coast of Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange. VA and Secretary Robert Wilkie announced, however, that Blue Water Vietnam Veterans claims will not be processed until January 1, 2020.

Rep. Cisneros questioned whether VA is conducting sufficient outreach to both stakeholders and veterans who will be affected, and also whether VA will have offices and employees sufficiently trained to begin processing claims. Specifically, he asked, "You stated there will be eight regional offices where this will be initially happening, are they going to handle claims for the entire country, these eight hubs, or is it only specifically for their regions?... Is there a plan to outreach to VSOs, and what is that plan?... My father is a Vietnam veteran, but he's 70 years old and he doesn't really use the internet, I'm concerned [this outreach] won't do him much good."

Rep. Cisneros is a Navy veteran and the son of a Vietnam veteran who was initially denied disability compensation for his exposure to Agent Orange. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act ensures thousands of Vietnam Veterans who are currently ineligible for disability benefits caused by Agent Orange under the Agent Orange Act of 1991 will now receive their rightful benefits.

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