I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4386

To amend title 38, United States Code, authorizing the Secretary of Veterans

Affairs to provide compensation to veterans suffering from disabilities

resulting from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater

of operations during the Persian Gulf War, to provide for increased

research into illnesses reported by Persian Gulf War veterans, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1994

Mr. MONTGOMERY (for himself, Mr. SLATTERY, Mr. ROWLAND, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. STEARNS, and Mr. BISHOP)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, authorizing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide compensation to

veterans suffering from disabilities resulting from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater

of operations during the Persian Gulf War, to provide

for increased research into illnesses reported by Persian

Gulf War veterans, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Persian Gulf

3 War Benefits Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

5 The Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) During the Persian Gulf War, members of

7 the Armed Forces were exposed to numerous poten8 tially toxic substances, including fumes and smoke

9 from military operations, oil well fires, diesel ex10 haust, paints, pesticides, depleted uranium, infec11 tious agents, chemoprophylactic agents, and indige12 nous diseases, and were also given multiple immuni13 zations. Threats of enemy use of chemical and bio14 logical warfare heightened the psychological stress

15 associated with the military operation.

16 (2) Significant numbers of veterans of the Per17 sian Gulf War are suffering from illnesses, or are ex18 hibiting symptoms of illness, that cannot now be di19 agnosed or clearly defined. As a result, many of

20 these conditions or illnesses are not considered to be

21 service connected under current law for purposes of

22 benefits administered by the Department of Veter23 ans Affairs.

24 (3) Scientists have concluded that the complex

25 biological, chemical, physical, and psychological envi26 ronment of the Southwest Asia theater of operations
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1 produced complex adverse health effects in Persian

2 Gulf War veterans and that it appears that no single

3 disease entity or syndrome exists. Rather, it appears

4 that the illnesses suffered by those veterans result

5 from multiple illnesses with overlapping symptoms

6 and causes that have yet to be defined.

7 (4) In response to concerns regarding the

8 health-care needs of Persian Gulf War veterans, par9 ticularly those who suffer from illnesses or condi10 tions for which no diagnosis has been made, the

11 Congress, in Public Law 102–585, directed the es12 tablishment of a Persian Gulf War Veterans Health

13 Registry, authorized health examinations for veter14 ans of the Persian Gulf War, and provided for the

15 National Academy of Sciences to conduct a com16 prehensive review and assessment of information re17 garding the health consequences of military service

18 in the Persian Gulf theater of operations and to de19 velop recommendations on avenues for research re20 garding such health consequences. In Public Law

21 103–210, the Congress authorized the Department

22 of Veterans Affairs to provide health care services on

23 a priority basis to Persian Gulf War veterans. The

24 Congress also provided in Public Law 103–160 (the

25 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
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1 1994) for funding for the establishment of a special2 ized environmental medical facility for the conduct

3 of research into the possible health effects of expo4 sure to low levels of hazardous chemicals especially

5 among Persian Gulf veterans and for research into

6 the possible health effects of battlefield exposure in

7 such veterans to depleted uranium.

8 (5) Further research and studies must be un9 dertaken to determine the underlying causes of the

10 illnesses suffered by Persian Gulf War veterans and,

11 pending the outcome of such research, veterans who

12 are seriously ill as the result of such illnesses should

13 be provided compensation benefits to offset the im14 pairment in earnings capacities they may be experi15 encing.

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

17 The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Af19 fairs to provide compensation for a period not to ex20 ceed 3 years to Persian Gulf War veterans who suf21 fer disabilities resulting from illnesses that cannot

22 now be diagnosed or defined, and for which other

23 causes cannot be identified,

24 (2) to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

25 to develop at the earliest possible date case assess-
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1 ment strategies and definitions or diagnoses of such

2 illnesses,

3 (3) to promote greater outreach to Persian Gulf

4 War veterans and their families to inform them of

5 the services and benefits to which they are currently

6 entitled, and

7 (4) to ensure that research activities and ac8 companying surveys of Persian Gulf War veterans

9 are appropriately funded and undertaken by the De10 partment of Veterans Affairs.

11 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF CASE ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL,

12 CASE DEFINITION, AND OUTREACH PRO13 GRAM FOR PERSIAN GULF WAR VETERANS.

14 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation

15 with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Health

16 and Human Services, shall—

17 (1) develop and implement at the earliest pos18 sible date a uniform case assessment protocol that

19 will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and

20 treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering

21 from illness attributed to service in the Southwest

22 Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf

23 War;

24 (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions

25 or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such serv-
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1 ice and seek to complete development of such case

2 definitions or diagnoses at the earliest possible date;

3 and

4 (3) develop and implement a comprehensive

5 outreach program to inform Persian Gulf War veter6 ans and their families of health-care services, includ7 ing comprehensive medical evaluations for such vet8 erans, or other benefits or services that may be pro9 vided by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the

10 Department of Defense.

11 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR DISABILITY RE12 SULTING FROM ILLNESS ATTRIBUTED TO

13 SERVICE DURING THE PERSIAN GULF WAR.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 11 of title 38, United

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end of sub16 chapter I the following new section:

17 ‘‘§ 1117. Compensation for disabilities associated

18 with Persian Gulf War

19 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall pay compensation under this

20 subchapter to a Persian Gulf veteran suffering from a

21 chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness (or

22 combination of undiagnosed illnesses) that became mani23 fest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year

24 after the last date on which the veteran performed active
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1 military, naval, or air service in the Southwest Asia thea2 ter of operations while on active duty.

3 ‘‘(b) A disability for which compensation under this

4 subchapter is payable shall be considered to be service con5 nected for purposes of all other laws of the United States.

6 ‘‘(c) Compensation may not be paid under this sec7 tion with respect to a disability occurring in a veteran—

8 ‘‘(1) where there is affirmative evidence that

9 the disability was not incurred by the veteran during

10 service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations

11 during the Persian Gulf War; or

12 ‘‘(2) where there is affirmative evidence to es13 tablish that an intercurrent injury or illness which is

14 a recognized cause of the disability was suffered by

15 the veteran between the date of the veteran’s most

16 recent departure from that theater of operations

17 while on active duty and the onset of the disability.

18 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may not make payments under

19 this section with respect to a disability for which com20 pensation is paid under this section for any month after

21 the month during which the Secretary determines that

22 such disability is not related to service in the Southwest

23 Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War.

24 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the term ‘Persian

25 Gulf veteran’ means a veteran who served on active duty
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1 in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of op2 erations during the period beginning on August 2,1990,

3 and ending on the date of the enactment of this section.

4 ‘‘(f) No payment may be made under this section for

5 any month that begins after the end of the three-year pe6 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this sec7 tion.’’.

8 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

9 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

10 to section 1116 the following new item:

‘‘1117. Presumption of service connection for illnesses associated with Persian

Gulf War.’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1117 of title 38,

12 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take

13 effect on October 1, 1994.

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR PER15 SIAN GULF ILLNESS RESEARCH.

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Depart17 ment of Veterans Affairs $5,000,000 for each of fiscal

18 years 1995 through 1997 for the conduct of research,

19 which the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

20 Defense and the Secretary of Health and Human Services,

21 determines would advance understanding of health risks

22 and effects of service during the Persian Gulf War and

23 effective means of treating such health effects.
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1 SEC. 7. SURVEY OF PERSIAN GULF VETERANS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated to the Department of Veterans Affairs $5,000,000

4 for fiscal year 1995 for the conduct of a survey of Persian

5 Gulf veterans to gather information on the incidence and

6 nature of health problems occurring in Persian Gulf veter7 ans and their families.

8 (b) COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF DE9 FENSE.—The survey shall be carried out in coordination

10 with the Secretary of Defense.

11 (c) PERSIAN GULF VETERAN.—For purposes of this

12 section, a Persian Gulf veteran is an individual who served

13 on active duty in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia

14 theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War as de15 fined in section 101(33) of title 38, United States Code.

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