Whereas it is estimated that between 1961 and 1971, approximately 77 million litres of herbicides, including 49.3 million litres of Agent Orange containing more than 360 kilograms of dioxin‐contaminated defoliants, were sprayed multiple times over 5.5 million acres in South Vietnam;

Whereas, the United States government, in violation of international law, waged this massive chemical warfare on Vietnam;

Whereas, chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, knew of the terrible dangers to humans related to dioxin and could have eliminated it from Agent Orange, but did not do so because it would have required additional costs; and maximizing profits came before human suffering and lives;

Whereas, dioxins are known to be risk factors for cancer, immune deficiency, reproductive and developmental disorders, and central nervous system and peripheral nervous system effects;

Whereas studies conducted by the international scientific community have shown the association between exposure to herbicides and health outcomes, including cancer, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage and other ill effects and developmental disabilities in children;

Whereas several generations of children who were born after the Vietnam war to parents exposed to Agent Orange during that war are now suffering from serious physical and mental disabilities that require medical, vocational, educational and other social services;

Whereas residues from herbicides that were transported, loaded, and stored at or near U.S. Air Force bases in Vietnam, and the spraying of Agent Orange by helicopters, backpacks, and Naval spraying in other locations have led to the contamination of the environment and food in the surrounding areas, resulting in exposure to herbicides by civilians that continues today;

Whereas the Vietnam Agent Relief and Responsibility Campaign is leading a national and international campaign to hold the U.S. government and those involved chemical companies accountable for the death and destruction of both humans and environment and to secure justice for Agent Orange victims;

Therefore Be It Resolved That, in support of the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, we (name of organization) demand that:

• U.S. Congress appropriate funds to provide health care services, education, social services, chronic care, home care, medical equipment, support for family and other services as they may arise to the more than 3 million Vietnamese people hurt by Agent Orange, including second and third generations as well as to American veterans and their children and grandchildren and to Vietnamese Americans;

• Those involved chemical companies assume their responsibility and allocate a significant amount of money from the profit of Agent Orange/dioxin to make a significant contribution to meet the needs of the victims of Agent Orange;

• Both the U.S. government and involved chemical companies be responsible to remediate and or attempt to clean up those areas in Vietnam that continue to contain high levels of dioxin.

Submitted by ________ on _____ (date) ______. Approved by ___________ on ____ (date) ____
Name, address and contacts of the organization.

The post Agent Orange Sample Resolution appeared first on VAORRC.

Whereas, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange is a delegation of Vietnamese women touring ten major Cities in the United States who are coming to the City and County of San Francisco to seek support and justice for the Vietnamese and all victims of Agent Orange including three million Vietnamese people, their families and their nation as well as the more than 58,000 US soldiers killed in the Vietnam War; and

Whereas, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange delegation is headed by Dang Hong Nhut, who suffers from cancer and has experienced multiple miscarriages and Tran Thi Hoan, a 21 year old college student born without one hand and both legs due to her mother’s exposure to Agent Orange and both have been diagnosed with life threatening and disabling conditions creating severe and life-long hardship for themselves and their families; and

Whereas, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange, on October 6, 2008, petitioned the US Supreme Court to reconsider a lawsuit against chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam as a mechanism of war which was contaminated with highly toxic dioxin, a byproduct of the manufacturing of Agent Orange which Dow Chemical, Monsanto and 35 other chemical manufacturers were aware of as early as 1965;

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors honors and remembers the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange, acknowledges the human suffering of the victims and survivors; recognizes the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, a project supported locally by the Bob Basker Post 315 of the American Legion and the Veterans For Peace, San Francisco Chapter 69, commends them for supporting and promoting these efforts as they continue to implore all nations to use all diplomatic and preventive efforts to cease the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction, and hereby proclaims October 30, 2008 as the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange day in San Francisco.

[signed]
SUPERVISOR ROSS MIRKARIMI
October 30, 2008

together with signature of Jake McGoldrick, Michela Alioto-Pier, Aaron Peskin, Carmen Chu, Chris Daly, Sean Elsbernd, Bevan Dufty, Tom Ammiano, Sophie Maxwell and Gerardo Sandoval (from District 1 to District 11).

The post Proclamation of the City and County of San Francisco appeared first on VAORRC.

The House of Representatives of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 48,000 teachers and health and human service professionals in the second largest school district in the country, passed the following resolution on October 29, 2008.

In support of Victims of Agent Orange

Moved, that United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) calls on the U.S. Congress to appropriate and deliver to Vietnam sufficient funds to provide health care, education, vocational education, chronic care, home care and medical equipment, including support for family members who are caregivers for Agent Orange victims; to clean up the “hot spots” where dioxin remains in the environment; and to provide other services that may be needed.

AND further moved, that we call on the U.S. Congress to provide for health care and related services for the children and grandchildren of American veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and provide assistance to Vietnamese Americans affected by Agent Orange;

AND further moved, that UTLA calls upon Dow Chemical and Monsanto to assume their responsibility by allocating funds to make a significant contribution to meet the needs of victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam;

AND finally moved that UTLA support The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign with a donation of $500 and to work to gain U.S. government and corporate assistance for the victims of Agent Orange and to build solidarity with the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, by carrying this resolution to its affiliate organizations.

Rationale:

The U.S. government, in violation of international law, waged massive chemical warfare in Vietnam, including the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides containing dioxin, the most toxic chemical known in science.  The U.S. government, in violation of international law, waged massive chemical warfare in Vietnam, including the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides containing dioxin, the most toxic chemical known in science.  Chemical companies, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto, knowingly produced Agent Orange with the toxic by-product dioxin, which could have been eliminated, but would have necessitated an additional manufacturing process.

More than three million people have been sickened, disabled or died from the effects of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam from various forms of cancers, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage, physical and developmental disabilities and emotional problems.   More than three million people have been sickened, disabled or died from the effects of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam from various forms of cancers, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage, physical and developmental disabilities and emotional problems.

Agent Orange continues to poison the people and environment of Vietnam through residues of dioxin that remain in the land, water and food in several”hot spots” located around the areas of former US military bases. Several generations of Vietnamese children are now suffering from disabilities due to their parents’ exposure to Agent Orange from living near “hot spots;”   Agent Orange continues to poison the people and environment of Vietnam through residues of dioxin that remain in the land, water and food in several “hot spots” located around the areas of former US military bases. Several generations of Vietnamese children are now suffering from disabilities due to their parents’ exposure to Agent Orange from living near “hot spots;”

The U.S. government has refused to recognize its responsibility and its commitment made in the Paris Peace Accords to heal the wounds of war and has failed to provide assistance for the serious health, economic and environmental devastation caused by Agent Orange that continues through to the present day. Dow Chemical and Monsanto and the other chemical manufacturers have refused to recognize that Agent Orange is deleterious to human health and have refused to recognize their responsibility to compensate their victims in Vietnam.   The U.S. government has refused to recognize its responsibility and its commitment made in the Paris Peace Accords to heal the wounds of war and has failed to provide assistance for the serious health, economic and environmental devastation caused by Agent Orange that continues through to the present day. Dow Chemical and Monsanto and the other chemical manufacturers have refused to recognize that Agent Orange is deleterious to human health and have refused to recognize their responsibility to compensate their victims in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign, a project of Veterans For Peace, is leading a national campaign to hold the U.S. government and chemical companies accountable to the victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam as well as to their U.S. veteran and Vietnamese American victims.

The post United Teachers Los Angeles: Support of Victims of Agent Orange appeared first on VAORRC.

Submitted by Chapter 69-Veterans Speakers Alliance. Passed unanimously, August 31, 2008 at the Veterans For Peace National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

BE IT RESOLVED that Veterans For Peace calls on the U.S. Congress to appropriate and
deliver to Vietnam sufficient funds to provide health care, education, vocational
education, chronic care, home care and medical equipment, including support for
family members who are caregivers for Agent Orange victims; to clean up the “hot
spots” where dioxin remains in the environment; and to provide other services that
may be needed.

AND BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Congress simultaneously provide for health care and
related services for the children and grandchildren of American veterans exposed to
Agent Orange in Vietnam and provide assistance to Vietnamese Americans affected
by Agent Orange;

AND BE IT RESOLVED that Veterans For Peace calls upon Dow Chemical and Monsanto to
assume their responsibility by allocating funds to make a significant contribution to
meet the needs of victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam;

AND BE IT RESOLVED that we urge all VFP chapters and members to continue to support the
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign and to work to gain U.S.
government and corporate assistance for the victims of Agent Orange and to build
solidarity with the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin.

The post Agent Orange policy of Veterans For Peace appeared first on VAORRC.

The post Agent Orange policy of the American Public Health Association appeared first on VAORRC.

American Public Health Association Adopts Landmark Policy Statement Calling for United States Government & Chemical Companies compensation to Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange

On November 6, 2007, the American Public Health Association, the largest public health association in the world, adopted a policy statement calling for U.S. government and the chemical companies involved to provide specified compensation to Vietnamese harmed by the spraying of dioxin laden Agent Orange during the war more than 30 years ago. The APHA called for compensation to cover medical care and services, development of community support organizations, chronic care and medical equipment.

The APHA further asks that the U.S. government and involved chemical companies be responsible to remediate those areas in Vietnam which still contain high levels of dioxin (the “hot spots.”)

Mindful of the fact that millions of American veterans of the Vietnam War and their families still suffer the effects of Agent Orange, the American Public Health Association policy statement recommended that the U.S. government continue to address the enduring psychological and physical health effects of Agent Orange on American veterans.

The policy statement further called for federal support for research and promoting of involvement of schools of public health, medicine and dentistry in the study of health consequences of the Vietnam War on all participants.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, a leading clinician/researcher from Vietnam and the Chairwoman of the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department of the Medical University of Ho Chi Minh City, who presented scientific findings on the effects of Agent Orange on women and children at the APHA, said, “The APHA policy statement will help to accelerate the present cooperation between the U.S. and Vietnam on remediating the environmental affects of Agent Orange. Three million Vietnamese people are now suffering painful and debilitating effects of Agent Orange and this policy statement will contribute to easing their suffering and improve the public health.”

Susan Schnall, a public health expert with the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign and a Vietnam era Navy veteran, observed that, “Many American veterans will welcome the APHA’s statement because they experience firsthand the terrible consequences of exposure to Agent Orange. As a health professional who has witnessed the suffering of both American soldiers and Vietnamese women and children, I believe that the APHA is doing the
right thing!”

Photos of Dr. Ngoc Phuong and her recent US tour

The post November 2007 Public Health and Environmental Justice Tour appeared first on VAORRC.

WHEREAS the United States government failed to fulfill commitments made in the Paris Peace Agreement to provide economic aid for post-war reconstruction and to heal the wounds of the Vietnam conflict, and

WHEREAS the US government pursued a hostile post-war policy aimed at isolating Vietnam that includes a punitive trade embargo which lasted until 1994, and

WHEREAS the US government has been reluctant to admit responsibility and has failed to provide humanitarian assistance for the serious health, economic and environmental devastation caused by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange/dioxin that continues through the present day, and

WHEREAS many of our members are Vietnam veterans who strongly feel it is our duty is to aid the Vietnamese people in their efforts to rebuild and to provide humanitarian assistance, and

WHEREAS it is imperative to nurture a relationship built on mutual trust and respect of national sovereignty, and to create fair trade practices that enhance the economic well-being of both countries,

BE IT RESOLVED that Veterans For Peace calls on the US Congress to reject the so-called “Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004” (HR-1587) or any other legislation that is contrary to friendly and normal relations between our two countries,

AND BE IT RESOLVED that we endorse the creation of a Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility fund that advocates for and assists the Vietnamese victims of these toxic chemicals,

AND BE IT RESOLVED that we confirm our desire to develop a formal relationship with the Veterans Association of Viet Nam, in the belief that it is in our best interest to pursue a policy of peace, reconciliation and friendship and for the U.S. government to fulfill its responsibility to the Vietnamese people.

Suel Jones, Becky Luening, Michael Cull, David Cline, Jaime Vazquez, William Kelly

CARRIED

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