II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1195 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presumptions relating 

to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the 

Republic of Vietnam, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. DAINES, Mr. TESTER, Ms. CORTEZ

MASTO, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. JONES, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 

BENNET, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. HOEVEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. COONS, 

Mr. GARDNER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, 

Mr. UDALL, Ms. SMITH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. MENENDEZ) 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 clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who 

served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, 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 ‘‘Blue Water Navy Viet5 nam Veterans Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF EXPOSURE 

2 FOR VETERANS WHO SERVED IN VICINITY OF 

3 REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. 

4 (a) COMPENSATION.—Subsections (a)(1) and (f) of 

5 section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, are amended 

6 by inserting ‘‘(including the territorial seas of such Repub7 lic pursuant to the maximum extent authorized by inter8 national law)’’ after ‘‘served in the Republic of Vietnam’’ 

9 each place it appears. 

10 (b) HEALTH CARE.—Section 1710(e)(4) of such title 

11 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the territorial seas of 

12 such Republic pursuant to the maximum extent authorized 

13 by international law)’’ after ‘‘served on active duty in the 

14 Republic of Vietnam’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect as of September 

17 25, 1985. 

18 SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF HERBICIDE EXPOSURE FOR CER19 TAIN VETERANS WHO SERVED IN KOREA. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1116 

22 the following new section: 

23 ‘‘§ 1116A. Presumption of herbicide exposure for cer24 tain veterans who served in Korea 

25 ‘‘(a) PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTION.—(1) 

26 For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject 


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1 to section 1113 of this title, a disease specified in sub2 section (b) that becomes manifest as specified in that sub3 section in a veteran described in paragraph (2) shall be 

4 considered to have been incurred or aggravated in the line 

5 of duty in the active military, naval, or air service, not6 withstanding that there is no record of evidence of such 

7 disease during the period of such service. 

8 ‘‘(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a vet9 eran who, during active military, naval, or air service, 

10 served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), 

11 during the period beginning on September 1, 1967, and 

12 ending on August 31, 1971. 

13 ‘‘(b) DISEASES.—A disease specified in this sub14 section is— 

15 ‘‘(1) a disease specified in paragraph (2) of 

16 subsection (a) of section 1116 of this title that be17 comes manifest as specified in that paragraph; or 

18 ‘‘(2) any additional disease that— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines in regula20 tions warrants a presumption of service-connec21 tion by reason of having positive association 

22 with exposure to an herbicide agent; and 

23 ‘‘(B) becomes manifest within any period 

24 prescribed in such regulations. 


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1 ‘‘(c) HERBICIDE AGENT.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, the term ‘herbicide agent’ has the meaning given 

3 such term in section 1821(d) of this title.’’. 

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

5 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

6 after the item relating to section 1116 the following new 

7 item: 

‘‘1116A. Presumption of herbicide exposure for certain veterans who served in 

Korea.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN OF CERTAIN THAILAND 

9 SERVICE VETERANS BORN WITH SPINA 

10 BIFIDA. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 18 of 

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

13 end the following new section: 

14 ‘‘§ 1822. Benefits for children of certain Thailand 

15 service veterans born with spina bifida 

16 ‘‘(a) BENEFITS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

17 provide to any child of a veteran of covered service in 

18 Thailand who is suffering from spina bifida the health 

19 care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary 

20 allowance required to be paid to a child of a Vietnam vet21 eran who is suffering from spina bifida under subchapter 

22 I of this chapter as if such child of a veteran of covered 

23 service in Thailand were a child of a Vietnam veteran who 

24 is suffering from spina bifida under such subchapter. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SPINA BIFIDA CONDITIONS COVERED.—This 

2 section applies with respect to all forms and manifesta3 tions of spina bifida, except spina bifida occulta. 

4 ‘‘(c) VETERAN OF COVERED SERVICE IN THAI5 LAND.—For purposes of this section, a veteran of covered 

6 service in Thailand is any individual, without regard to 

7 the characterization of that individual’s service, who— 

8 ‘‘(1) served in the active military, naval, or air 

9 service in Thailand, as determined by the Secretary 

10 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, dur11 ing the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and 

12 ending on May 7, 1975; and 

13 ‘‘(2) is determined by the Secretary, in con14 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, to have been 

15 exposed to a herbicide agent during such service in 

16 Thailand. 

17 ‘‘(d) HERBICIDE AGENT.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, the term ‘herbicide agent’ means a chemical in a her19 bicide used in support of United States and allied military 

20 operations in Thailand, as determined by the Secretary in 

21 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, during the pe22 riod beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 

23 7, 1975.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF

25 ‘‘CHILD’’.—Section 1831(1) of such title is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘subchapter III of this 

3 chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1821 of this 

4 title’’; and 

5 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘section 1821 

6 of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘that section’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) For purposes of section 1822 of this 

10 title, an individual, regardless of age or marital 

11 status, who— 

12 ‘‘(i) is the natural child of a veteran 

13 of covered service in Thailand (as deter14 mined for purposes of that section); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) was conceived after the date on 

16 which that veteran first entered service de17 scribed in subsection (c) of that section.’’. 

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) SUBCHAPTER HEADING.—The heading for 

20 subchapter III of chapter 18 of such title is amend21 ed by inserting ‘‘AND THAILAND’’ after 

22 ‘‘KOREA’’. 

23 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 18 of such title is 

25 amended— 


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1 (A) by striking the item relating to sub2 chapter III and inserting the following new 

3 item: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—CHILDREN OF CERTAIN KOREA AND THAILAND SERVICE

VETERANS BORN WITH SPINA BIFIDA’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

6 section 1821 the following new item: 

‘‘1822. Benefits for children of certain Thailand service veterans born with spina 

bifida.’’. 

7 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

9 Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, 

10 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 

12 identifying— 

13 (1) the military installations of the United 

14 States located in Thailand during the period begin15 ning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 

16 1975, at which an herbicide agent (as defined in sec17 tion 1822 of title 38, United States Code, as added 

18 by subsection (a)) was actively used; and 

19 (2) the period of such use. 

20 SEC. 5. UPDATED REPORT ON CERTAIN GULF WAR ILLNESS 

21 STUDY. 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 


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1 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Senate an updated re3 port on the findings, as of the date of the updated report, 

4 of the Follow-Up Study of a National Cohort of Gulf War 

5 and Gulf Era Veterans under the epidemiology program 

6 of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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