II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2330

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that undiagnosed illnesses

constitute diseases for purposes of entitlement of veterans to disability

compensation for service-connected diseases, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27 (legislative day, JULY 20), 1994

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr.

MITCHELL, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. CAMPBELL,

Mr. THURMOND, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SPECTER, and Mr. JEFFORDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that

undiagnosed illnesses constitute diseases for purposes of

entitlement of veterans to disability compensation for

service-connected diseases, 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. CLARIFICATION OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

2 UNDIAGNOSED ILLNESS AND DISEASE FOR

3 PURPOSES OF ENTITLEMENT TO DISABILITY

4 COMPENSATION.

5 (a) WARTIME DISABILITY COMPENSATION.—Section

6 1110 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘For disability’’;

8 and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘dis11 ease’, in the case of an individual, means any deviation

12 from or interruption of the normal structure or function

13 of any part, organ, or system of the body of the individual

14 that is manifested by a symptom or sign (or symptoms

15 or signs) the etiology, pathology, and prognosis for which

16 is known or unknown.’’.

17 (b) PEACETIME DISABILITY COMPENSATION.—Sec18 tion 1131 of such title is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘For disability’’;

20 and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘dis23 ease’, in the case of an individual, means any deviation

24 from or interruption of the normal structure or function

25 of any part, organ, or system of the body of the individual

26 that is manifested by a symptom or sign (or symptoms
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1 or signs) the etiology, pathology, and prognosis for which

2 is known or unknown.’’.

3 (c) CONSIDERATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES OF SERV4 ICE.—Subsection (a) of section 1154 of such title is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall include in the regulations

7 pertaining to service-connection of disabilities the follow8 ing provisions:

9 ‘‘(1) Additional provisions requiring that due

10 consideration be given in each case where a veteran

11 is seeking service-connection for a disability and

12 where such consideration might materially assist the

13 veteran in establishing such service-connection to—

14 ‘‘(A) the places, types, and circumstances

15 of such veteran’s service as shown by such vet16 eran’s service record, the official history of each

17 organization in which the veteran served, such

18 veteran’s medical records, and all pertinent

19 medical and lay evidence; and

20 ‘‘(B) the common or shared experiences,

21 medical symptoms or signs, or both, of other

22 veterans (including groups of veterans) who—

23 ‘‘(i) were engaged in service similar to

24 the service of such veteran; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) exhibit, or have exhibited since

2 such service, medical symptoms or signs

3 similar to the medical symptoms or signs

4 of such veteran.

5 ‘‘(2) The provisions required by section 5 of the

6 Veterans’ Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Com7 pensation Standards Act (38 U.S.C. 1154 note).’’.

Æ