To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the eligibility of children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida for benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5471 To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the eligibility of children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida for benefits of the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. BISHOP of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the eligi- bility of children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida for benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR SPINA 3 BIFIDA-RELATED BENEFITS OF THE DEPART- 4 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1832 of title 38, United 6 States Code, is amended— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5471.IH H5471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5471 IH (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The provi- 1 sions’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided by sub- 2 section (c), the provisions’’; and 3 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 4 section: 5 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR BENEFITS FOR SPINA 6 BIFIDA.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 7 effective date for an award of benefits under subchapter 8 I of this chapter for a child of a Vietnam veteran who 9 is suffering from spina bifida is the date on which the 10 child is born.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 12 subsection (a) shall be effective as if included in the enact- 13 ment of chapter 18 of such title 38. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Dec 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5471.IH H5471 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS