I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1742 

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

Affairs to establish a presumption of service connection for illnesses 

associated with contaminants in the water supply at Marine Corps Base 

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and to provide health care to family 

members of veterans who lived at Camp Lejeune while the water was 

contaminated. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. MILLER of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mrs. MALONEY, and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a presumption 

of service connection for illnesses associated with contaminants in the water supply at Marine Corps Base 

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and to provide health 

care to family members of veterans who lived at Camp 

Lejeune while the water was contaminated. 

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 ‘‘Janey Ensminger 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR ILL5 NESSES ASSOCIATED WITH CONTAMINANTS 

6 IN THE WATER SUPPLY AT MARINE CORPS 

7 BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 11 of 

9 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 1119. Presumptions of service connection for ill12 nesses associated with contaminants in 

13 the water supply at Camp Lejeune, North 

14 Carolina 

15 ‘‘(a) PRESUMPTION.—(1) For purposes of section 

16 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title, 

17 each illness, if any, described in paragraph (2) shall be 

18 considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by serv19 ice referred to in that paragraph, notwithstanding that 

20 there is no record of evidence of such illness during the 

21 period of such service. 

22 ‘‘(2) An illness referred to in paragraph (1) is any 

23 diagnosed or undiagnosed illness that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines, in consultation 

25 with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

26 Registry, in regulations prescribed under this section 


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1 to warrant a presumption of service connection by 

2 reason of having a positive association with exposure 

3 to volatile organic compounds, including known 

4 human carcinogens and probable human carcino5 gens, known or presumed to be associated with serv6 ice in the Armed Forces at Marine Corps Base 

7 Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during a period de8 termined by the Secretary in consultation with the 

9 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) becomes manifest within the period, if 

12 any, prescribed in such regulations in a veteran who 

13 served on active duty at Camp Lejeune, North Caro14 lina, and by reason of such service was exposed to 

15 such compounds. 

16 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, a veteran who 

17 served on active duty at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 

18 during the period referred to in paragraph (2)(A) and who 

19 has an illness described in paragraph (2) shall be pre20 sumed to have been exposed by reason of such service to 

21 the compound associated with the illness in the regulations 

22 prescribed under this section unless there is conclusive evi23 dence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to the 

24 compound by reason of such service. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS RELATING TO DISEASES.— 

2 (1) Whenever the Secretary determines, in consultation 

3 with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Reg4 istry, on the basis of sound medical and scientific evidence, 

5 that a positive association exists between the exposure of 

6 humans to a volatile organic compound known or pre7 sumed to be present in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, 

8 North Carolina, and the occurrence of a disease in hu9 mans, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing 

10 that a presumption of service connection is warranted for 

11 that disease for the purposes of this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) In making determinations for the purpose of this 

13 subsection, the Secretary shall take into account all other 

14 sound medical and scientific information and analyses 

15 available to the Secretary. In evaluating any study for the 

16 purpose of making such determinations, the Secretary 

17 shall take into consideration whether the results are statis18 tically significant, are capable of replication, and with19 stand peer review. 

20 ‘‘(3) An association between the occurrence of a dis21 ease in humans and exposure to a volatile organic com22 pound shall be considered to be positive for the purposes 

23 of this section if the credible evidence for the association 

24 is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the 

25 association. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REMOVAL OF DISEASES.—Whenever a disease is 

2 removed from regulations prescribed under this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) a veteran who was awarded compensation 

4 for such disease on the basis of the presumption pro5 vided in subsection (a) before the effective date of 

6 the removal shall continue to be entitled to receive 

7 compensation on that basis; and 

8 ‘‘(2) a survivor of a veteran who was awarded 

9 dependency and indemnity compensation for the 

10 death of a veteran resulting from such disease on 

11 the basis of such presumption shall continue to be 

12 entitled to receive dependency and indemnity com13 pensation on such basis.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

16 after the item relating to section 1118 the following new 

17 item: 

‘‘1119. Presumptions of service connection for illnesses associated with contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. HOSPITAL CARE, MEDICAL SERVICES, AND NURS19 ING HOME CARE FOR VETERANS STATIONED 

20 AT CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, 

21 WHILE THE WATER WAS CONTAMINATED AT 

22 CAMP LEJEUNE. 

23 (a) FAMILY MEMBERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VIII of chapter 

2 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 1786. Health care of family members of veterans 

5 stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Caro6 lina, while the water was contaminated 

7 at Camp Lejeune 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A family member of a veteran 

9 described in section 1119(a)(3) of this title who resided 

10 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during the period de11 scribed in such section, or who was in utero during such 

12 period while the mother of such family member resided 

13 at such location, shall be eligible for hospital care, medical 

14 services, and nursing home care furnished by the Sec15 retary for any covered condition, or any covered disability 

16 that is associated with a condition, that is associated with 

17 exposure to the contaminants in the water at Camp 

18 Lejeune during such period. 

19 ‘‘(b) COVERED CONDITIONS AND DISABILITIES.—In 

20 this section, covered conditions and disabilities are those 

21 conditions and disabilities described in section 1119(a)(2) 

22 of this title.’’. 

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec24 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 1785 

2 the following new item: 

‘‘1786. Health care of family members of veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune, 

North Carolina, while the water was contaminated at Camp 

Lejeune.’’. 

Æ 


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