Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 535 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 332 To amend title 38, United States Code, to remove the manifestation period required for the presumptions of service connection for chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 5, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported by Mr. MORAN, with an amendment and an amendment to the title [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to remove the mani- festation period required for the presumptions of service connection for chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, 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 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 332 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agent Orange Expo- 2 sure Fairness Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF MANIFESTATION PERIOD REQUIRED 4 FOR PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CONNEC- 5 TION FOR CERTAIN DISEASES ASSOCIATED 6 WITH EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN HERBICIDE 7 AGENTS. 8 Section 1116(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, 9 is amended— 10 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘within 11 one’’ and all that follows through ‘‘1975’’; 12 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘within a’’ 13 and all that follows through ‘‘1975’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 15 paragraph: 16 ‘‘(I) Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy 17 becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 18 percent or more.’’. 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 332 RS SECTION 1. COMPTROLLER GENERAL BRIEFING AND RE- 1 PORT ON REPEALING MANIFESTATION PE- 2 RIOD FOR PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CON- 3 NECTION FOR CERTAIN DISEASES ASSOCI- 4 ATED WITH EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN HERBI- 5 CIDE AGENTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 8 of the United States shall provide to the Committee on Vet- 9 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ 10 Affairs of the House of Representatives a briefing on pre- 11 liminary observations of the Comptroller General, and not 12 later than 240 days after the date of such briefing, submit 13 to such committees a final report, on the efforts of the Sec- 14 retary of Veterans Affairs to provide benefits, including 15 compensation and health care, to veterans— 16 (1) who during active military, naval, or air 17 service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the 18 period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on 19 May 7, 1975; and 20 (2) in whom chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, 21 or acute or subacute peripheral neuropathy have 22 manifested. 23 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 24 shall include the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 332 RS (1) A description of how the Secretary establishes 1 a service connection for a diseases described in para- 2 graph (2) of subsection (a) manifesting in veterans, 3 including the number of veterans described in para- 4 graph (1) of such subsection who have filed a claim 5 for a benefit associated with a disease described in 6 paragraph (2) of such subsection. 7 (2) A description of how claims adjudicators of 8 the Department of Veterans Affairs determine service 9 connection for a disease described in subparagraph 10 (C) or (E) of section 1116(a)(2) of title 38, United 11 States Code, when documentation proving the pres- 12 ence of the disease during the manifestation period set 13 forth in such subparagraphs for the disease is not 14 available. 15 (3) A description of the expected effect of repeal- 16 ing the manifestation period from such subpara- 17 graphs, including the expected effect on the number of 18 claims for benefits the Department will receive. 19 (4) A review of all claims submitted to the Sec- 20 retary for compensation under chapter 11 of such title 21 that are associated with a disease described in sub- 22 section (a)(2), including the type of proof presented to 23 establish a service connection for the manifestation of 24 the disease based on exposure to a herbicide agent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 332 RS (5) Recommendations on how the Department 1 can better adjudicate claims for benefits, including 2 compensation, submitted to the Department that are 3 associated with a disease described in paragraph (2) 4 of subsection (a) for veterans described in paragraph 5 (1) of such subsection. 6 (6) An assessment of such other areas as the 7 Comptroller General considers appropriate to study. 8 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—Not later than 60 days 9 after the date on which the Comptroller General of the 10 United States submits the report required under subsection 11 (a), the Secretary shall commence carrying out the rec- 12 ommendations submitted under subsection (b)(5). 13 (d) HERBICIDE AGENT DEFINED.—In this section, the 14 term ‘‘herbicide agent’’ has the meaning given such term 15 in section 1116(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code. 16 Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on repealing the manifestation periods for presumptions of service connection for chloracne and porphyria cutanea tarda associated with exposure to cer- tain herbicide agents, and for other purposes.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 535 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 332 A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to remove the manifestation period required for the pre- sumptions of service connection for chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, and for other pur- poses. SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S332.RS S332 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS