Bill would ease battle for veterans fighting cancer
Freehold Borough official can sympathize with Agent Orange victims
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

Freehold Borough Councilman Marc Le Vine has joined other individuals in support of a bill before Congress that would help provide veterans of the Vietnam War who are suffering with gastrointestinal cancers with the medical care they need.

Although Le Vine is not a veteran himself, he shares something in common with the veterans the bill seeks to assist. Le Vine is a survivor of esophageal cancer.

He brought the issue of the bill to a recent Borough Council meeting to ask the governing body to pass a supporting resolution for HR-6798, which addresses these concerns.

The bill was introduced by Congressman Steve Kagen (D-Wisconsin), Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Washington) and Congressman Joe Baca (D-California).

Le Vine said the council passed a resolution of support of the bill and said Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina has contacted Congressman Chris Smith's office to ask the official whose district includes Freehold Borough for his support of the bill as well.

Le Vine asked that public awareness be raised for the bill so that other people may call or write their legislators and ask them to support a bill that would benefit Vietnam veterans.

In a letter to Smith, Le Vine said the council passed a resolution to support HR- 6798, which ties Agent Orange exposure to the development of gastric cancers. The bill, if enacted into law, would aid veterans who were exposed to the defoliation chemical and subsequently have developed these types of cancers.

"These men and women served our country proudly and need our full support," Le Vine wrote in his letter to Smith. "Several vets with esophageal cancer and other gastric cancers are working together to see that HR-6798 is passed. I am very proud to join them in their struggle.

"But really, this should not be a struggle for them at all. Their struggles should have ended when they left Vietnam, after the fall of Saigon. Their struggles should not have to begin anew, in civilian life, having to deal with the devastating effects of poisons dropped above their heads to help defeat their real enemy —the Viet Cong.

"Instead, 20 or 30 years later, these same poisons have created new and more deadly enemies that no army can possibly defeat. Yet, they are asked to fight the effects of such toxins alone and isolated from their former fighting units and away from the respectful eyes of those they so bravely defended in war. There is no glory in this new fight. There is only pain, suffering, and for many, death."

Le Vine asked Smith to support the bill in Congress.

HR-6798 seeks to amend Title 38, "To establish a presumption of service connection for certain cancers occurring in veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam and were exposed to certain herbicide agents, and for other purposes."

The bill states that Congress acknowledges that between 1962 and 1971, the Air Force sprayed approximately 107 million pounds of herbicides in South Vietnam for the purpose of defoliation and crop destruction, and that "it has been incontrovertibly established that exposure to Agent Orange leads to long-term, systemic health problems that can occur years after the exposure."

Although the Veterans Health Care ReformAct of 1996 has been in place, Le Vine said his research and networking with veterans has led him to conclude that many veterans are having a hard time getting medical care because of the "longstanding denial of gastric cancers and Agent Orange."

Le Vine said HR-6798 will change this and give veterans the help he said they desperately need.

Kagen, one of the primary sponsors of the bill, spoke with GreaterMedia Newspapers, and was asked why he proposed the legislation.

"It was the right thing to do. They protected our backs, now it's time for us to protect theirs," the congressman from Wisconsin said.

Kagen said if a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange during his or her time in Vietnam, then "there should be no question about that and all medical expenses should be covered."

He said the issue came to his attention from a constituent. He said a woman told him her husband died of cancer caused by Agent Orange and said she was having difficulty collecting her widow's benefits even though the death certificate clearly stated that his death was caused by "cancer induced Agent Orange," according to the congressman.

Kagen testified at a Final Determination of Benefits Hearing on behalf of the woman.

"There should be coverage for our veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange from the beginning of the gastrointestinal tract to the end; that's why we want to establish a presumption of services," he said.

The congressman said the bill is going before the Veterans Affairs Committee and said he will be meeting with Congressman Chet Edwards (D-Texas), who chairs the committee.