I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 944 

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

veterans who are former prisoners of war. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2009 

Mr. BILIRAKIS 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 2009’’. 

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 CERVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:44 Feb 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H944.IH H944

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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 (M) following the matter stricken by para17 graph (2) as subparagraphs (F) through (R), 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— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘, if the 

24 Secretary determines that the veteran has post-trau25 matic stress disorder (PTSD)’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(S) Diabetes (type 2).’’. 

4 (c) AUTHORITY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINA5 TION OF PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR

6 ADDITIONAL DISEASES.— 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE DETERMINATION.—Sec8 tion 1112 of title 38, United States Code, as amend9 ed by subsections (a) and (b), is further amended by 

10 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

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

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

13 that the Secretary determines in regulations prescribed 

14 under this subsection warrants a presumption of service15 connection by reason of having positive association with 

16 the experience of being a prisoner of war. 

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

18 basis of sound medical and scientific evidence, that a posi19 tive association exists between (i) the experience of being 

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

21 humans, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations pro22 viding that a presumption of service connection is war23 ranted for that disease for the purposes of this section. 

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

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


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1 recommendations received by the Secretary from the Advi2 sory Committee on Former Prisoners of War established 

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

4 medical and scientific information and analyses available 

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

6 of making such determinations, the Secretary shall take 

7 into consideration whether the results are statistically sig8 nificant, are capable of replication, and withstand peer re9 view. 

10 ‘‘(C) An association between the occurrence of a dis11 ease in humans and the experience of being a prisoner of 

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

13 this subsection if the credible evidence for the association 

14 is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the 

15 association. 

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

17 which the Secretary receives a recommendation from the 

18 Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War that a 

19 presumption of service connection be established under 

20 this subsection for any disease, the Secretary shall deter21 mine whether a presumption of service connection under 

22 this subsection is warranted for that disease. If the Sec23 retary determines that such a presumption is warranted, 

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


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1 determination, shall issue proposed regulations setting 

2 forth the Secretary’s determination. 

3 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines that a presumption 

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

5 later than 60 days after making the determination, shall 

6 publish in the Federal Register a notice of that determina7 tion. The notice shall include an explanation of the sci8 entific basis for that determination. If the disease already 

9 is included in regulations providing for a presumption of 

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

11 after publication of the notice of a determination that the 

12 presumption is not warranted, shall issue proposed regula13 tions removing the presumption for the disease. 

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

15 the Secretary issues any proposed regulations under this 

16 subsection, the Secretary shall issue final regulations. 

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

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

19 prescribed under this section— 

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

21 for such disease on the basis of the presumption pro22 vided in subsection (a) before the effective date of 

23 the removal shall continue to be entitled to receive 

24 compensation on that basis; and 


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

2 dependency and indemnity compensation for the 

3 death of a veteran resulting from such disease on 

4 the basis of such presumption shall continue to be 

5 entitled to receive dependency and indemnity com6 pensation on such basis. 

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

8 consultation with, and after taking into consideration the 

9 views of, the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of 

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

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) 

12 of section 1112(b) of such title, as amended by sub13 section (a), is further amended by inserting ‘‘or pre14 scribed under subsection (d)’’ after ‘‘a disease speci15 fied in paragraph (2)’’. 

Æ 


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