FOR RELEASE: May 8, 2001

Evans Commends Secretary Principi’s
Quick Action on Final Regulation Providing Type 2 Diabetes
Service-Connected Presumption for Vietnam Veterans

Washington, DC – Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and a long time advocate for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides, commended Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi for promulgating a regulation which establishes a presumption of service-connection for veterans with Type 2 Diabetes who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  The presumption will also be applied to veterans who can prove that they were exposed to dioxin during military service at other locations.  

The regulation will not be implemented until July 9, 2001 after the sixty-day period Congress has to review major regulations.  “Scientific experts studying the effects of Agent Orange exposure have recognized that veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange are at an increased risk for Type 2 Diabetes. It is important to move quickly to provide veterans service-connected disability compensation for this disease,” Evans said.  A recent report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences affirmed its earlier conclusion that “there is limited/suggested evidence of an association between exposure to the herbicides used in Vietnam or the contaminant dioxin and Type 2 [adult-onset] diabetes.” 

Encouraging any Vietnam veteran or any other veteran who can establish exposure to dioxin outside the Republic of Vietnam with Type 2 Diabetes who has not filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to do so immediately, Evans cautioned that VA will not begin to decide claims for service-connected disability compensation until July 9, 2001.  However applications for service-connected compensation can now be filed on-line by clicking the “On-line Application” box for Compensation and Pension at VA’s website: www.va.gov.

The Illinois congressman has continued to push for recognition of diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure.  In addition to the presumption for diabetes, Evans hopes that H.R. 1587 introduced by Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Evans will be passed to remove the time limit for respiratory cancers to develop in order to receive a presumption of service-connection.  Although some earlier studies found that respiratory cancers were identified in the first three decades after exposure, recent IOM reports indicate that it is not possible to place an upper limit on the time in which these cancers develop following herbicide exposure.   Evans has also introduced legislation to provide compensation to children whose disabilities, including a rare form of cancer Acute Myleogenous Leukemia, are associated with parental Agent Orange exposure.

Some 18 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed in Vietnam, beginning in 1962, to destroy jungle hiding places and enemy crops.  Having served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam era, Evans has led the struggle for health care and compensation of Vietnam veterans affected by Agent Orange.  Due to Evans’ persistent pressure, Congress enacted the Agent Orange Act of 1991, giving the Department of Veterans Affairs authority to provide service-connected disability compensation to veterans based on research findings.

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