http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894837/posts
And so, the question I asked in my previous post is answered. S.B.2026 was submitted by the President for whom I voted in the last two elections. Clearly, President Bush has been, at the very least, extremely ill-adivised. And in the middle of a war!
It seems obvious to me, and it should be to any veteran, that the consequences of the passage of S.2026 would be catastrophic to ALL veterans of ANY war. Once the precedent is set of retroactively selecting, isolating, and then denying a group or class of veterans from benefits they earned by their service, then it follows that every time a budget reduction is considered, veterans will be the first ones on the block. I can foresee a time when Tankers might 'qualify' for compensation due to exposure to depleted uranium 'silver bullets', but the accompanying infantry would not. Or perhaps infantry close to burning chemical weapons bunkers would be compensated, but the Helo or A-10 pilots flying through those clouds of smoke would not. If I can think of some, I guarantee some politician or their staff can come up with more and better.
Regardless of it's origin, this bill is unconscionable attempt to 'end run' around the likely favorable outcome of the 'Haas vs. Nicholson' case before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. As a 'Blue Water Navy' veteran who has been denied compensation for my Agent Orange induced Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, I will go to my grave, once again abandoned and forsaken by the country I served with honor.
Do I sound bitter? Uh, well yes, I am.
Here is the full bill:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-2026
In Akaka’s speech where he said he submitted this at the request of the President, he listed three other bills that were decent. How do we know he is only saying that this was a Presidential request by lumping his own bill with the others?