I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1598

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide improved benefits for 

veterans who are former prisoners of war. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2005

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FILNER, Ms. HART, Mr. FOLEY, 

Mr. FOSSELLA, and Mr. WHITFIELD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

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

benefits for veterans who are former prisoners of war.

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 ‘‘Prisoner of War Bene5 fits Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVED VETERANS’ BENEFITS FOR FORMER 

7 PRISONERS OF WAR. 

8 (a) REPEAL OF MINIMUM PERIOD OF INTERNMENT

9 FOR PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR CER-
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1 TAIN DISEASES.—Subsection (b) of section 1112 of title 

2 38, United States Code, is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (1)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (A) and inserting a period; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘a former prisoner of 

7 war—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘a disease 

8 specified in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

9 former prisoner of war, a disease specified in 

10 paragraph (2)’’; and 

11 (C) by striking subparagraph (B); 

12 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(3) The dis13 eases specified’’ and all that follows through ‘‘the 

14 following:’’; and 

15 (3) by redesignating the subparagraphs (A) 

16 through (K) following the matter stricken by para17 graph (2) as subparagraphs (F) through (P), respec18 tively, of paragraph (2). 

19 (b) ADDITIONAL DISEASES PRESUMED TO BE SERV20 ICE CONNECTED.—Paragraph (2) of section 1112(b) of 

21 such title, as amended by subsection (a)(3), is further 

22 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara23 graphs: 

24 ‘‘(Q) Heart disease. 

25 ‘‘(R) Stroke. 
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1 ‘‘(S) Diabetes (type 2). 

2 ‘‘(T) Osteoporosis.’’. 

3 (c) AUTHORITY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINA4 TION OF PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR

5 ADDITIONAL DISEASES.—

6 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINATION.—Sec7 tion 1112 of title 38, United States Code, as amend8 ed by subsections (a) and (b), is further amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(d)(1) Subsection (b) applies with respect to any 

11 disease (in addition to those specified in that subsection) 

12 that the Secretary determines in regulations prescribed 

13 under this subsection warrants a presumption of service14 connection by reason of having positive association with 

15 the experience of being a prisoner of war. 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) Whenever the Secretary determines, on the 

17 basis of sound medical and scientific evidence, that a posi18 tive association exists between (i) the experience of being 

19 a prisoner of war, and (ii) the occurrence of a disease in 

20 humans, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations pro21 viding that a presumption of service connection is war22 ranted for that disease for the purposes of this section. 

23 ‘‘(B) In making determinations for the purpose of 

24 this paragraph, the Secretary shall take into account (i) 

25 recommendations received by the Secretary from the Advi-
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1 sory Committee on Former Prisoners of War established 

2 under section 541 of this title, and (ii) all other sound 

3 medical and scientific information and analyses available 

4 to the Secretary. In evaluating any study for the purpose 

5 of making such determinations, the Secretary shall take 

6 into consideration whether the results are statistically sig7 nificant, are capable of replication, and withstand peer re8 view. 

9 ‘‘(C) An association between the occurrence of a dis10 ease in humans and the experience of being a prisoner of 

11 war shall be considered to be positive for the purposes of 

12 this subsection if the credible evidence for the association 

13 is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the 

14 association. 

15 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 60 days after the date on 

16 which the Secretary receives a recommendation from the 

17 Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War that a 

18 presumption of service connection be established under 

19 this subsection for any disease, the Secretary shall deter20 mine whether a presumption of service connection under 

21 this subsection is warranted for that disease. If the Sec22 retary determines that such a presumption is warranted, 

23 the Secretary, not later than 60 days after making the 

24 determination, shall issue proposed regulations setting 

25 forth the Secretary’s determination. 
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1 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines that a presumption 

2 of service connection is not warranted, the Secretary, not 

3 later than 60 days after making the determination, shall 

4 publish in the Federal Register a notice of that determina5 tion. The notice shall include an explanation of the sci6 entific basis for that determination. If the disease already 

7 is included in regulations providing for a presumption of 

8 service connection, the Secretary, not later than 60 days 

9 after publication of the notice of a determination that the 

10 presumption is not warranted, shall issue proposed regula11 tions removing the presumption for the disease. 

12 ‘‘(C) Not later than 90 days after the date on which 

13 the Secretary issues any proposed regulations under this 

14 subsection, the Secretary shall issue final regulations. 

15 Such regulations shall be effective on the date of issuance. 

16 ‘‘(4) Whenever a disease is removed from regulations 

17 prescribed under this section—

18 ‘‘(A) a veteran who was awarded compensation 

19 for such disease on the basis of the presumption pro20 vided in subsection (a) before the effective date of 

21 the removal shall continue to be entitled to receive 

22 compensation on that basis; and 

23 ‘‘(B) a survivor of a veteran who was awarded 

24 dependency and indemnity compensation for the 

25 death of a veteran resulting from such disease on 
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1 the basis of such presumption shall continue to be 

2 entitled to receive dependency and indemnity com3 pensation on such basis. 

4 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall carry out this subsection in 

5 consultation with, and after taking into consideration the 

6 views of, the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of 

7 War established under section 541 of this title.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

9 section 1112(b) of such title, as amended by subsection 

10 (a), is further amended by inserting ‘‘or prescribed under 

11 subsection (d)’’ after ‘‘a disease specified in paragraph 

12 (2)’’.

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