Give Us Our V.A. Disability Ratings. Or Give Us A Reasonable Settlement. Semper Fi. It Is Getting Very Hard To Remain Always Fathful.

I am one of the 55 men diagnosed with male breast cancer from Camp Lejeune. Last October, I testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about Camp Lejeune and the 500,000 to 1,000,000 Marines and their families exposed to the toxic drinking water at the base. The bill approved by the SVAC on Thursday is nothing more than an attempt by the SVAC to punt this issue away. It will now head over to the SASC where both the majority and minority lead counsels are former U.S. Navy Jag Corps Officers. The bill will more than likely be pigeon holed because DoD has no intention of recognizing any environmental exposure links at any of their sites. Furthermore, Akaka's last second proposal violates title 42 of the US Code. The bill calls for the creation of an advisory board (of which DoD will have a say in the composition) and circumnavigates the government agency tasked to determine health effects at NPL sites such as Camp Lejeune. After we heard the announcement of this counter bill to Burr's S-1518, we mounted an email campaign and sent over 400 emails to the committee all opposing Akaka's proposal before the vote took place on Thursday. These emails were ignored. The SVAC was also lobbied by services groups at the last minute to reject S-1518 because of the provision to provide care for dependents affected by the contamination. Senator Akaka and the SVAC let us down and in effect delivered us into the jaws of the beast we are fighting. Thanks....