Compensate Victims of U.S. Chemical Warfare in Vietnam

By Marjorie Cohn

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the chemical warfare
program in Vietnam without sufficient remedial action by the U.S.
government. One of the most shameful legacies of the Vietnam War,
Agent Orange continues to poison Vietnam and the people exposed to the
chemicals, as well as their offspring.

H.R. 2634, the Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2011, which
California Congressman Bob Filner just introduced in the House, would
provide crucial assistance for social and health services to
Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and U.S. victims of Agent Orange.

From 1961 to 1971, approximately 19 million gallons of herbicides,
primarily Agent Orange, were sprayed over the southern region of
Vietnam. Much of it was contaminated with dioxin, a deadly chemical.
Dioxin causes various forms of cancers, reproductive illnesses, immune
deficiencies, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage, and
physical and developmental disabilities.

In Vietnam more than three million people, and in the United States
thousands of veterans, their children, and Vietnamese-Americans, have
been sickened, disabled or died from the effects of Agent
Orange/dioxin.

Vietnamese of least three generations born since the war are now
suffering from disabilities due to their parents’ exposure to Agent
Orange or from direct exposure in the environment. The organization
representing Vietnam’s victims, the Vietnam Association for Victims of
Agent Orange/Dioxin, has set up some ‘peace villages’ to care for the
severely disabled, but many more such facilities and services are
needed. Dioxin residues in the soil, sediment, and food continue to
poison many people in 28 “hot spots” in southern Vietnam.

Many U.S. veterans suffer from effects of Agent Orange due to their
exposure in Vietnam, as do their children and grandchildren.
Vietnamese-Americans exposed directly to Agent Orange and their
offspring suffer from the same health conditions.

The bill, which the Vietnamese Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility
Campaign assisted Congressman Filner in writing, defines “victim” as
“any individual who is a Vietnamese national, Vietnamese-American, or
United States veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange, or the progeny
of such an individual, and who has a disease or disability associated
with this exposure.” In addition to compensating the victims of Agent
Orange, H.R. 2634 would also clean up the toxic hot spots in Vietnam.

One provision of the bill would expand programs and research for the
benefit of U.S. vets and establish medical centers “designed to
address the medical needs of descendants of the veterans of the
Vietnam era.” This creates a presumption that certain birth defects
that children and grandchildren of exposed victims suffer would be
considered the result of contact with Agent Orange.

While the U.S. government has begun to fund environmental cleanup in
Vietnam, it has refused to recognize its full responsibility to heal
the wounds of war and provide assistance to Vietnamese,
Vietnamese-American, and U.S. victims for the serious health and
environmental devastation caused by Agent Orange.

There has been some compensation for U.S. veteran victims of Agent
Orange, but not nearly enough. In spite of President Richard Nixon’s
1973 promise of $3.25 billion in reconstruction aid to Vietnam
“without any preconditions,” the Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American
victims of the disgraceful chemical warfare the United States
conducted in Vietnam have not seen one penny of compensation.

Fifty years is long enough. It is high time to compensate the victims
for this shameful chapter in our history.  H.R. 2634 will go a long
way toward doing just that.

Marjorie Cohn is a professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law
and co-coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and
Responsibility Campaign.