A bill to modify the presumption of service connection for veterans who were exposed to herbicide agents while serving in the Armed Forces in Thailand during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes.

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 657 To modify the presumption of service connection for veterans who were exposed to herbicide agents while serving in the Armed Forces in Thai- land during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 10, 2021 Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. HASSAN, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To modify the presumption of service connection for veterans who were exposed to herbicide agents while serving in the Armed Forces in Thailand during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S657.IS S657 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 657 IS SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE 1 CONNECTION FOR VETERANS WHO WERE EX- 2 POSED TO HERBICIDE AGENTS WHILE SERV- 3 ING IN THE ARMED FORCES IN THAILAND 4 DURING THE VIETNAM ERA. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 6 shall ensure that if the Secretary creates a presumption 7 of service connection between the occurrence of a disease 8 and exposure to a herbicide agent while serving in the 9 Armed Forces during the covered period at a military base 10 in Thailand, such presumption also applies to exposure to 11 a herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces dur- 12 ing the covered period at any military base located in 13 Thailand without regard to where on the base the veteran 14 was located or what military job specialty the veteran per- 15 formed. 16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘‘covered pe- 18 riod’’ means the period beginning on January 9, 19 1962, and ending on June 30, 1976. 20 (2) HERBICIDE AGENT.—The term ‘‘herbicide 21 agent’’ has the meaning given such term in section 22 1116(a) of title 38, United States Code. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S657.IS S657 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 657 IS (3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 1 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 2 United States Code. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S657.IS S657 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS