I was contacted today about HB 1742 also known as the Janey Ensminger Bill. They wanted to know if I was for or against the provisions of the bill. After taking a look at it I can say that I would support a bill like this since it holds both the Military and the Government accountable for the safety of its charges and their families. For those that do not know what the bill is, here is a synopsis of it.
OFFICIAL SUMMARY
The following summary was written by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress, which serves Congress. GovTrack did not write and has no control over these summaries.5/5/2011–Introduced.
Janey Ensminger Act – Presumes a service connection, for veterans’ benefits purposes, for any illness associated with contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, during a period in which the water there was contaminated by volatile organic compounds, including known and probable human carcinogens, notwithstanding evidence of such illness during such period. Makes family members who resided at such location during such period, or were in utero during such period while the mother resided at such location, eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for any condition or disability associated with exposure to such contaminants. quoted from: govtrack.us : H.R. 1742: Janey Ensminger Act
It would make it so that the government would take care of any medical costs that would have been associated with the contamination that was found at Camp Lejeune both for the military personnel as well as that of their families. When you expect so much from our citizens in uniform we should make sure, that when ever possible, that they are well taken care of and kept from harms way, especially on a State side military installation.
I would call this a commonsense bill and it should be supported. I will support any bill that is for the greater good and makes good commonsense that would help to better the United States of America.