Korean American VALOR Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5590 To amend title 38, United States Code, to treat certain individuals who served in Vietnam as a member of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea as a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States for purposes of the provision of health care by the Department of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 13, 2020 Mr. CISNEROS (for himself, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. KIM, Ms. MENG, Mr. PASCRELL, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to treat certain individuals who served in Vietnam as a member of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea as a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States for purposes of the provision of health care by 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5590.IH H5590 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5590 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Korean American Viet- 2 nam Allies Long Overdue for Relief Act’’ or the ‘‘Korean 3 American VALOR Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE BENEFITS FOR CER- 5 TAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED IN THE 6 ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF 7 KOREA. 8 Section 109 of title 38, United States Code, is 9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 10 section: 11 ‘‘(d)(1) Any person described in paragraph (2) shall 12 be entitled to hospital and domiciliary care and medical 13 services within the United States under chapter 17 of this 14 title to the same extent as if the service described in such 15 paragraph had been performed in the Armed Forces of 16 the United States. 17 ‘‘(2) A person described in this paragraph is a person 18 whom the Secretary determines meets the following cri- 19 teria: 20 ‘‘(A) The person served in Vietnam as a mem- 21 ber of the armed forces of the Republic of Korea at 22 any time during the period beginning on January 9, 23 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, or such other pe- 24 riod as determined appropriate by the Secretary for 25 purposes of this subsection. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5590.IH H5590 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5590 IH ‘‘(B) The person became a citizen of the United 1 States on or after the date on which such service in 2 the armed forces of the Republic of Korea ended.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5590.IH H5590 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS