The Senate unanimously passed the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. The bill intended to guarantee disability benefits to 90,000 veterans is now headed to the president's desk for a signature.

Blue Water Navy veterans receive their VA disability benefits for exposure to the cancer-causing toxin appeared to be finished. The Justice Department dropped its appeal of a federal court decision from earlier this year.

Procopio v. Wilkie reversed a 1997 VA decision to deny that so-called "Blue Water" veterans were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the waters off Vietnam. The Procopio decision ruled that the VA should presume those sailors were exposed to the toxic chemical at some point during their service, and grant them the same benefits as other Vietnam veterans.

Months after the Federal Court of Appeals ruled in favor of thousands of Vietnam vets receiving healthcare coverage for illnesses related to Agent Orange, the secretary for the Department of Veteran Affairs issued a stay on pending claims for Blue Water Navy vets until January 2020.