<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>calling on the Congressional Delegation of the Great State of Minnesota to fully <br/>
<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>support and fund passage of the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009.<br/>
<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>WHEREAS, during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed more than 19 <br/>
<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over Vietnam to reduce forest cover and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>crops used by the enemy; these herbicides contained dioxin, which has since been identified as <br/>
<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>carcinogenic and has been linked with a number of serious and disabling illnesses now affecting <br/>
<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>thousands of veterans; and <br/>
<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to address <br/>
<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>the plight of veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in the Republic of Vietnam; the act <br/>
<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>amended Title 38 of the United States Code to presumptively recognize as service-connected <br/>
<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>certain diseases among military personnel who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975; <br/>
<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>this presumption has provided access to appropriate disability compensation and medical care <br/>
<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>for Vietnam veterans diagnosed with such illnesses as Type II diabetes, Hodgkins's disease, <br/>
<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>non-Hodgkins lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, <br/>
<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>respiratory cancers, and soft-tissue sarcomas; and<br/>
<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>WHEREAS, pursuant to a 2002 directive, the Department of Veterans Affairs policy <br/>
<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>has denied the presumption of a service connection for herbicide-related illnesses to Vietnam <br/>
<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>veterans who could not furnish written documentation that they had "boots on the ground" <br/>
<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>in-country, making it virtually impossible for countless Navy and Air Force veterans to pursue <br/>
<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>their claims for benefits; many who had landed on Vietnamese soil could not produce proof due <br/>
<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>to incomplete or missing military records; moreover, personnel who had served on ships in the <br/>
<a id="pl.1.23"></a><var>1.23</var>"Blue Water Navy" in Vietnamese territorial waters were, in fact, exposed to dangerous airborne <br/>
<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>toxins, which not only drifted offshore but also washed into streams and rivers draining into <br/>
<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>the South China Sea; and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>WHEREAS, warships positioned off the Vietnamese shore routinely distilled seawater to <br/>
<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>obtain potable water; a 2002 Australian study found that the distillation process, rather than <br/>
<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>removing toxins, in fact concentrated dioxin in water used for drinking, cooking, and washing; <br/>
<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>this study was conducted by the Australian Department of Veteran Affairs after it found that <br/>
<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>Vietnam veterans of the Royal Australian Navy had a higher rate of mortality from Agent <br/>
<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>Orange-associated diseases than did Vietnam veterans from other branches of the military; when <br/>
<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied specific cancers among <br/>
<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>Vietnam veterans, it found a higher risk of cancer among Navy veterans; and<br/>
<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>WHEREAS, Agent Orange did not discriminate between soldiers on the ground and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>sailors on ships offshore, and legislation to recognize this tragic fact and restore eligibility for <br/>
<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>compensation and medical care to Navy and Air Force veterans who sacrificed their health for <br/>
<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>their country is critical; and<br/>
<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>WHEREAS, when the Agent Orange Act passed in 1991 with no dissenting votes, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>Congressional leaders stressed the importance of responding to the health concerns of Vietnam <br/>
<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>veterans and ending the bitterness and anxiety that had surrounded the issue of herbicide <br/>
<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>exposure; Congress should reaffirm the nation's commitment to the well-being of all of its <br/>
<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>veterans and direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to administer the Agent Orange Act under <br/>
<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>the presumption that herbicide exposure in the Republic of Vietnam includes the country's inland <br/>
<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>waterways, offshore waters, and airspace; NOW, THEREFORE, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it respectfully urges, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>the President and the Congress of the United States to restore the presumption of a service <br/>
<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>connection for Agent Orange exposure to Navy and Air Force veterans who served on the inland <br/>
<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>waterways, territorial waters, and in the airspace of the Republic of Vietnam; and in Thailand, <br/>
<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>Laos, and Cambodia, and<br/>
<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br/>
<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br/>
<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk <br/>
<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>of the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran <br/>
<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>Affairs, the chair of the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, and Minnesota's Senators and <br/>
<a id="pl.2.32"></a><var>2.32</var>Representatives in Congress urging the members of the delegation to support and fund the Agent <br/>
<a id="pl.2.33"></a><var>2.33</var>Orange Equity Act of 2009 and with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the <br/>
<a id="pl.2.34"></a><var>2.34</var>Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.<br/>