II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1091

To amend section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, to modify and

extend authorities on the presumption of service-connection for herbiciderelated disabilities of Vietnam era veterans, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 22, 2001

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, and Mr. SPECTER) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend section 1116 of title 38, United States Code,

to modify and extend authorities on the presumption

of service-connection for herbicide-related disabilities of

Vietnam era 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,

3 SECTION 1. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF AUTHORI4 TIES ON THE PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE5 CONNECTION FOR HERBICIDE-RELATED DIS6 ABILITIES OF VIETNAM ERA VETERANS.

7 (a) REPEAL OF 30-YEAR LIMITATION ON MANI8 FESTATION OF RESPIRATORY CANCERS.—Subsection
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1 (a)(2)(F) of section 1116 of title 38, United States Code,

2 is amended by striking ‘‘within 30 years’’ and all that fol3 lows through ‘‘May 7, 1975’’.

4 (b) TREATMENT OF CLAIMS DENIED UNDER LIMITA5 TION ON MANIFESTATION.—(1) The Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs shall treat each claim for disability com7 pensation under section 1116 of title 38, United States

8 Code, for a disease covered by subsection (a)(2)(F) of that

9 section that was denied by reason of the 30-year limitation

10 on manifestation specified in that subsection (as that sub11 section was in effect on the day before the date of the

12 enactment of this Act) as having been submitted under

13 that section as amended by subsection (a).

14 (2) In the case of an award of compensation with re15 spect to a claim described in paragraph (1)—

16 (A) the effective date of the award shall be the

17 date on which the claim would otherwise have been

18 granted had the limitation referred to in that para19 graph not applied to the claim when originally sub20 mitted; and

21 (B) the amount of compensation payable for the

22 claim for any month before the date of the enact23 ment of this Act shall be the amount of disability

24 compensation provided for under chapter 11 of title

25 38, United States Code, for that month.
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1 (c) PRESUMPTION OF EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDE

2 AGENTS IN VIETNAM DURING VIETNAM ERA.—(1) Sec3 tion 1116 of title 38, United States Code, is further

4 amended—

5 (A) by transferring paragraph (3) of subsection

6 (a) to the end of the section and redesignating such

7 paragraph, as so transferred, as subsection (f); and

8 (B) in subsection (f), as so transferred and

9 redesignated—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this

11 subsection, a veteran’’ and inserting ‘‘For pur12 poses of establishing a service connection for a

13 disability resulting from exposure to a herbicide

14 agent, including a presumption of service-con15 nection under this section, a veteran’’; and

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘and has a disease referred

17 to in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection’’.

18 (2)(A) The section heading of that section is amended

19 to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 1116. Presumptions of service connection for dis2 eases associated with exposure to certain

3 herbicide agents; presumption of expo4 sure’’.

5 (B) The table of section at the beginning of chapter

6 11 of that title is amended by striking the item relating

7 to section 1116 and inserting the following new item:

‘‘1116. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with exposure

to certain herbicide agents; presumption of exposure.’’.

8 (d) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY TO PRESUME SERV9 ICE-CONNECTION FOR ADDITIONAL DISEASES.—(1) Sub10 section (e) of section 1116 of title 38, United States Code,

11 is amended by striking ‘‘10 years’’ and inserting ‘‘20

12 years’’.

13 (2) Section 3(i) of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (38

14 U.S.C. 1116 note) is amended by striking ‘‘10 years’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘20 years’’.

16 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (a)(2)(F)

17 of section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, as amend18 ed by subsection (a) of this section, is further amended

19 by inserting ‘‘of disability’’ after ‘‘manifest to a degree’’.

Æ