Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1195 To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 11, 2019 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. DAINES, Mr. TESTER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. JONES, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. HOEVEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. COONS, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. UDALL, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. MENEN- DEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presump- tions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, 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 ‘‘Blue Water Navy Viet- 4 nam Veterans Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1195 IS SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF EXPOSURE 1 FOR VETERANS WHO SERVED IN VICINITY OF 2 REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. 3 (a) COMPENSATION.—Subsections (a)(1) and (f) of 4 section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, are amended 5 by inserting ‘‘(including the territorial seas of such Repub- 6 lic pursuant to the maximum extent authorized by inter- 7 national law)’’ after ‘‘served in the Republic of Vietnam’’ 8 each place it appears. 9 (b) HEALTH CARE.—Section 1710(e)(4) of such title 10 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the territorial seas of 11 such Republic pursuant to the maximum extent authorized 12 by international law)’’ after ‘‘served on active duty in the 13 Republic of Vietnam’’. 14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 15 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect as of September 16 25, 1985. 17 SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF HERBICIDE EXPOSURE FOR CER- 18 TAIN VETERANS WHO SERVED IN KOREA. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 38, United 20 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1116 21 the following new section: 22 ‘‘§ 1116A. Presumption of herbicide exposure for cer- 23 tain veterans who served in Korea 24 ‘‘(a) PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTION.—(1) 25 For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1195 IS to section 1113 of this title, a disease specified in sub- 1 section (b) that becomes manifest as specified in that sub- 2 section in a veteran described in paragraph (2) shall be 3 considered to have been incurred or aggravated in the line 4 of duty in the active military, naval, or air service, not- 5 withstanding that there is no record of evidence of such 6 disease during the period of such service. 7 ‘‘(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a vet- 8 eran who, during active military, naval, or air service, 9 served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), 10 during the period beginning on September 1, 1967, and 11 ending on August 31, 1971. 12 ‘‘(b) DISEASES.—A disease specified in this sub- 13 section is— 14 ‘‘(1) a disease specified in paragraph (2) of 15 subsection (a) of section 1116 of this title that be- 16 comes manifest as specified in that paragraph; or 17 ‘‘(2) any additional disease that— 18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines in regula- 19 tions warrants a presumption of service-connec- 20 tion by reason of having positive association 21 with exposure to an herbicide agent; and 22 ‘‘(B) becomes manifest within any period 23 prescribed in such regulations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1195 IS ‘‘(c) HERBICIDE AGENT.—For purposes of this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘herbicide agent’ has the meaning given 2 such term in section 1821(d) of this title.’’. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 4 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 5 after the item relating to section 1116 the following new 6 item: 7 ‘‘1116A. Presumption of herbicide exposure for certain veterans who served in Korea.’’. SEC. 4. BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN OF CERTAIN THAILAND 8 SERVICE VETERANS BORN WITH SPINA 9 BIFIDA. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 18 of 11 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 12 end the following new section: 13 ‘‘§ 1822. Benefits for children of certain Thailand 14 service veterans born with spina bifida 15 ‘‘(a) BENEFITS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 16 provide to any child of a veteran of covered service in 17 Thailand who is suffering from spina bifida the health 18 care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary 19 allowance required to be paid to a child of a Vietnam vet- 20 eran who is suffering from spina bifida under subchapter 21 I of this chapter as if such child of a veteran of covered 22 service in Thailand were a child of a Vietnam veteran who 23 is suffering from spina bifida under such subchapter. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1195 IS ‘‘(b) SPINA BIFIDA CONDITIONS COVERED.—This 1 section applies with respect to all forms and manifesta- 2 tions of spina bifida, except spina bifida occulta. 3 ‘‘(c) VETERAN OF COVERED SERVICE IN THAI- 4 LAND.—For purposes of this section, a veteran of covered 5 service in Thailand is any individual, without regard to 6 the characterization of that individual’s service, who— 7 ‘‘(1) served in the active military, naval, or air 8 service in Thailand, as determined by the Secretary 9 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, dur- 10 ing the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and 11 ending on May 7, 1975; and 12 ‘‘(2) is determined by the Secretary, in con- 13 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, to have been 14 exposed to a herbicide agent during such service in 15 Thailand. 16 ‘‘(d) HERBICIDE AGENT.—For purposes of this sec- 17 tion, the term ‘herbicide agent’ means a chemical in a her- 18 bicide used in support of United States and allied military 19 operations in Thailand, as determined by the Secretary in 20 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, during the pe- 21 riod beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 22 7, 1975.’’. 23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF 24 ‘‘CHILD’’.—Section 1831(1) of such title is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1195 IS (1) in subparagraph (B)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘subchapter III of this 2 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1821 of this 3 title’’; and 4 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘section 1821 5 of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘that section’’; and 6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 7 paragraph: 8 ‘‘(C) For purposes of section 1822 of this 9 title, an individual, regardless of age or marital 10 status, who— 11 ‘‘(i) is the natural child of a veteran 12 of covered service in Thailand (as deter- 13 mined for purposes of that section); and 14 ‘‘(ii) was conceived after the date on 15 which that veteran first entered service de- 16 scribed in subsection (c) of that section.’’. 17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 18 (1) SUBCHAPTER HEADING.—The heading for 19 subchapter III of chapter 18 of such title is amend- 20 ed by inserting ‘‘AND THAILAND’’ after 21 ‘‘KOREA’’. 22 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 23 at the beginning of chapter 18 of such title is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1195 IS (A) by striking the item relating to sub- 1 chapter III and inserting the following new 2 item: 3 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—CHILDREN OF CERTAIN KOREA AND THAILAND SERVICE VETERANS BORN WITH SPINA BIFIDA’’; and 4 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 5 section 1821 the following new item: 6 ‘‘1822. Benefits for children of certain Thailand service veterans born with spina bifida.’’. (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 8 Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, 9 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 10 the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 11 identifying— 12 (1) the military installations of the United 13 States located in Thailand during the period begin- 14 ning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 15 1975, at which an herbicide agent (as defined in sec- 16 tion 1822 of title 38, United States Code, as added 17 by subsection (a)) was actively used; and 18 (2) the period of such use. 19 SEC. 5. UPDATED REPORT ON CERTAIN GULF WAR ILLNESS 20 STUDY. 21 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1195 IS submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 1 House of Representatives and the Senate an updated re- 2 port on the findings, as of the date of the updated report, 3 of the Follow-Up Study of a National Cohort of Gulf War 4 and Gulf Era Veterans under the epidemiology program 5 of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1195.IS S1195 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS