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 Minutes Archive |
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Veterans'
Affairs Committee Minutes
VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MEETING
Minutes: October 10, 2007
Veterans Affairs Committee meeting convened and called to order by
Veterans Affairs Committee Co-Chairperson Arnold Arquette at or about
8:15 A.M.
Pledge of Allegiance–Moment of Silence.
Roll-call of committee members:
| Chair, |
Todd Kaminski, |
Excused |
| Co-Chair, |
Arnold Arquette, |
Present |
| |
Dave Martin, |
Present |
| |
Philip Savage, |
Excused |
Citizens’ Time:
None
Reading of the August Committee Meeting Minutes:
Motion was made by Mr. Martin to accept August minutes as presented.
Mr. Savage seconded. By a roll call vote of 3-0, August Committee
Meeting Minutes were accepted as presented.
Reading of August and September Activity Reports:
August and September Activity Reports were read without ensuing
discussion.
Applications for General Assistance from the Veterans’ Relief
Fund:
None
Old Business:
The Director informed the Veterans Affairs Committee
that the cost to advertise for a Korean War era veteran to be appointed
to the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Battle Creek Enquirer was over
$400.00–$400.00 that the office budget could not support. Mr. Arquette
stated that we could advertise in the Shopper for a nominal fee. The
Director stated that the best source for advertising is through both the
Veterans Affairs Committee and the Veterans Affairs office. All agreed
to keep on the “look out.”
New Business:
The Director informed the Veterans Affairs Committee of
the recent Institute of Medicine–National Academy of Sciences recently
published report pertaining to the relative association of dioxin
exposure in Vietnam and the subsequent development of hypertension. The
Director stated that the National Academy of Sciences recently announced
that after an extensive review of studies and medical literature
published since 2004, hypertension satisfied the limited or suggestive
evidence of an association for those exposed to herbicides while serving
in Vietnam. The Department of Veterans Affairs has historically accepted
the NAS determination of limited or suggestive evidence of an
association to herbicides and established a presumption that allows VA
to grant service connection for those Veitnam veterans who develop of of
these conditions to a degree of 10 percent or more folloing service. The
Director further stated that in a proactive attempt to maintain the
integrity of the earliest possible effective date, he initiated a
two-week investigation into those Vietnam veterans who visited the
Calhoun County Veterans Affairs office since 1999. After identifying
well over 200 potentially qualified Vietnam veterans, he and the Service
Officer filed well over 200 claims for service-connected hypertension,
presumptive to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Director stated that
by securing the August 2007 effective date of claim for these Vietnam
veterans, eligibility for significant retroactive benefits could be
established. To date, the Department of Veterans Affairs has not
published either a procedure or regulation relative to including
hypertension on the list of Agent Orange presumptive conditions.
Mr. Martin stated that the Disabled American Veterans service
organization in Detroit would no longer accept hypertension claims
presumptive to herbicide exposure in Vietnam without a signature. Mr.
Martin stated that he was informed by the Disabled American Veterans
that some veterans had their monthly service-connected disability
compensation benefits reduced as a result of filing claims for
service-connected hypertension presumptive to herbicide exposure.
Mr. Arquette made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Martin
seconded. By a roll call vote of 3-0, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45
AM.
________________________
Todd Kaminski
Chair, Calhoun County Veterans’ Affairs Committee
________________________
Scott C. Losey
Director, Calhoun County Veterans’ Affairs
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Several photos included in this 
