I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4320 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of serviceconnection for certain veterans with tinnitus or hearing loss, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. LANCE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. KING of New 

York, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SOTO, Mr. EVANS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 

CARSON of Indiana, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. MCEACHIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of service-connection for certain veterans with 

tinnitus or hearing loss, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hear our Heroes Act 

5 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTION FOR 

2 HEARING LOSS AND TINNITUS. 

3 Section 1112 of title 38, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section: 

6 ‘‘(d)(1) For purposes of section 1110 of this title, and 

7 subject to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, diag8 nosed hearing loss, tinnitus, or both of a veteran described 

9 in paragraph (2) shall be considered to have been incurred 

10 in or aggravated by the active military, naval, or air serv11 ice of the veteran, notwithstanding that there is no record 

12 of evidence of such hearing loss or tinnitus, as the case 

13 may be, during the period of such service. 

14 ‘‘(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a vet15 eran who while on active military, naval, or air service— 

16 ‘‘(A) was assigned to a military occupational 

17 specialty or equivalent described in paragraph (3); 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(B) served in combat. 

20 ‘‘(3) A military occupational specialty or equivalent 

21 referred to in paragraph (2)(A) is a military occupational 

22 specialty or equivalent in which individuals assigned to 

23 such military occupational specialty or equivalent in the 

24 active military, naval, or air service are or were likely to 

25 be exposed to a sufficiently high level of acoustic trauma 


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1 as to result in permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, 

2 as determined by the Secretary.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION TO SCHEDULE FOR RATES FOR DIS4 ABILITY COMPENSATION. 

5 Pursuant to section 1155 of title 38, United States 

6 Code, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall adjust the 

7 schedule of rating disabilities to establish a minimum dis8 ability rating for a veteran who requires a hearing aid be9 cause of a service-connected disability, including pursuant 

10 to section 1112(d) of such title, as amended by section 

11 2. 

Æ 


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