Lonnie Kilpatrick Central Pacific Relief Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3368 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of service-connection for certain veterans exposed to certain herbicides while serving in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. SAN NICOLAS (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. CHU, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. KATKO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRK- PATRICK, Mr. MAST, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RUTHER- FORD, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. THOMP- SON of California, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. MASSIE, Mrs. AXNE, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of service-connection for certain veterans exposed to certain herbicides while serving in the Armed Forces, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lonnie Kilpatrick Cen- 4 tral Pacific Relief Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3368.IH H3368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3368 IH SEC. 2. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE-CONNECTION FOR 1 CERTAIN VETERANS EXPOSED TO CERTAIN 2 HERBICIDES WHILE SERVING IN THE ARMED 3 FORCES. 4 (a) EXPANSION OF PRESUMPTIONS.—Section 5 1116(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after 7 ‘‘1975’’ the following: ‘‘, served on Guam or Amer- 8 ican Samoa, or in the territorial waters thereof, dur- 9 ing the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and 10 ending on July 31, 1980, or served on Johnston 11 Atoll or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll dur- 12 ing the period beginning on January 1, 1972, and 13 ending on September 30, 1977’’; and 14 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting after 15 ‘‘1975’’ the following: ‘‘, served on Guam or Amer- 16 ican Samoa, or in the territorial waters thereof, dur- 17 ing the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and 18 ending on July 31, 1980, or served on Johnston 19 Atoll or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll dur- 20 ing the period beginning on January 1, 1972, and 21 ending on September 30, 1977,’’. 22 (b) ELIGIBILITY FOR HOSPITAL CARE AND MEDICAL 23 SERVICES.—Section 1710(e)(4) is amended by striking 24 subparagraph (A) and inserting the following new sub- 25 paragraph (A): 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3368.IH H3368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3368 IH ‘‘(A) The term ‘Vietnam-era herbicide-exposed 1 veteran’ means a veteran who— 2 ‘‘(i) served on active duty— 3 ‘‘(I) in the Republic of Vietnam dur- 4 ing the period beginning on January 9, 5 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975; 6 ‘‘(II) on Guam or American Samoa, 7 or in the territorial waters thereof, the pe- 8 riod beginning on January 9, 1962, and 9 ending on July 31, 1980; or 10 ‘‘(III) on Johnston Atoll or on a ship 11 that called at Johnston Atoll during the 12 period beginning on January 1, 1972, and 13 ending on September 30, 1977; and 14 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary finds may have been ex- 15 posed during such service to dioxin or was ex- 16 posed during such service to a toxic substance 17 found in a herbicide or defoliant used for mili- 18 tary purposes during such period.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3368.IH H3368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS