I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2634 

To direct the Secretary of State to provide assistance for certain individuals 

affected by exposure to Agent Orange and the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to enhance the availability of medical care for descendants of 

veterans of the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2011 

Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of State to provide assistance for 

certain individuals affected by exposure to Agent Orange 

and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enhance the 

availability of medical care for descendants of veterans 

of the Vietnam era, 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 ‘‘Victims of Agent Or5 ange Relief Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) From 1961 to 1971, approximately 

5 19,000,000 gallons of 15 different herbicides, includ6 ing 13,000,000 gallons of Agent Orange, were 

7 sprayed over the southern region of Vietnam. Many 

8 of such herbicides, including Agent Orange, were 

9 based with the toxic contaminant, known as dioxin. 

10 (2) It is estimated that between 2,100,000 and 

11 4,800,000 Vietnamese people were present during 

12 the spraying of Agent Orange and other herbicides 

13 and many more were or continue to be exposed 

14 through contact with the environment and food that 

15 was contaminated, or as offspring of those exposed 

16 who now suffer from illnesses and deformities. 

17 (3) Today, there are still dozens of environ18 mental hot spots in Vietnam which contaminate the 

19 food, soil, sediment, and wildlife and continue to ex20 pose the people of Vietnam to dioxin. 

21 (4) Agent Orange exposure continues to nega22 tively affect the lives of men and women in Vietnam 

23 and in the United States. The lives of many victims 

24 are cut short and others live with disease, disabil25 ities, and pain, often untreated or unrecognized. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ad2 dress and remediate the ongoing problems and concerns 

3 that arose or will arise from the use of these deadly herbi4 cides, including Agent Orange, during the Vietnam War. 

5 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY 

6 HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO EXPOSURE TO 

7 AGENT ORANGE DURING THE VIETNAM ERA. 

8 (a) FOR COVERED INDIVIDUALS.—The Secretary of 

9 State shall provide assistance to address the health care 

10 needs of covered individuals. Such assistance shall include 

11 the provision of medical and chronic care services, nursing 

12 services, and medical equipment. 

13 (b) FOR CAREGIVERS.—The Secretary of State shall 

14 provide assistance to institutions in Vietnam that provide 

15 health care for covered individuals. Such assistance shall 

16 include— 

17 (1) medicines and medical equipment; 

18 (2) custodial care, home care, respite care, and 

19 daycare programs; 

20 (3) training programs for caregivers; 

21 (4) medical, physical rehabilitation, and coun22 seling services and equipment for illnesses and de23 formities associated with exposure to Agent Orange; 

24 and 

25 (5) reconstructive surgical programs. 


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1 (c) FOR HOUSING AND POVERTY REDUCTION.—The 

2 Secretary of State shall provide assistance to repair and 

3 rebuild substandard homes in Vietnam for covered individ4 uals and the families of covered individuals. The Secretary 

5 of State shall provide micro grants and loans to facilitate 

6 subsistence payments and poverty reduction for covered 

7 individuals and families of covered individuals. 

8 (d) FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION.—The Sec9 retary of State shall provide assistance to remediate those 

10 areas in Vietnam that continue to contain high levels of 

11 dioxin, Agent Orange, and other contaminants used dur12 ing the Vietnam War. 

13 (e) FOR PUBLIC RESEARCH.—The Secretary of State 

14 shall provide assistance to support research relating to 

15 health issues of covered individuals. Such research should 

16 include the active involvement of schools of public health 

17 and medicine located in the United States, Vietnam, and 

18 other interested countries. 

19 (f) VIETNAMESE NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZA20 TIONS.—Assistance under this section (other than assist21 ance under subsection (e)) shall be provided through ap22 propriate Vietnamese nongovernmental organizations and 

23 other community organizations. 

24 (g) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of State shall complete a plan for the implementation of 

2 this section. Not later than 180 days after completion of 

3 the plan, the Secretary of State shall begin implementing 

4 this section. 

5 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means in an 

7 individual who— 

8 (A) is a resident of Vietnam; and 

9 (B) is affected by health issues related to 

10 exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam 

11 era; and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘Vietnam era’’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 101(29) of title 38, United 

14 States Code. 

15 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

16 AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTERS FOR DESCEND17 ANTS OF VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM ERA. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF MEDICAL CENTERS.—The 

19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish at least two 

20 regional medical centers of the Department of Veterans 

21 Affairs that are designed to address the medical needs of 

22 descendants of veterans of the Vietnam era. Such medical 

23 centers shall be— 

24 (1) associated with existing university-based 

25 medical centers; 


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1 (2) equipped to provide access to a full range 

2 of state-of-the-art medical care for illnesses, deformi3 ties, and developmental problems experienced by the 

4 descendants of veterans of the Vietnam era, includ5 ing diagnostic medicine, rehabilitative medicine, pe6 diatric medicine, psychiatry, and vocational training. 

7 (b) COORDINATION OF MEDICAL RECORDS.—The 

8 medical centers established under this section shall coordi9 nate the medical records of patients who receive care at 

10 the centers with the Department of Veterans Affairs for 

11 the purpose of conducting research or providing support 

12 for research into the intergenerational effects of dioxin ex13 posure. 

14 (c) EMPLOYMENT OF SPECIALISTS.—The Secretary 

15 of Veterans Affairs shall employ medical personnel at the 

16 medical centers established under this section who are spe17 cialists in environmental illnesses and rehabilitative medi18 cine. 

19 (d) TRAVEL AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs shall provide assistance to indi21 viduals and families who travel to the medical centers es22 tablished under this section for diagnostic evaluation and 

23 treatment to cover the costs of travel to and from the med24 ical centers and the cost of housing while being evaluated 

25 or treated at the centers. 


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1 (e) DEFINITION OF VIETNAM ERA.—In this section, 

2 the term ‘‘Vietnam era’’ has the meaning given the term 

3 in section 101(29) of title 38, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 5. NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERANS READJUSTMENT 

5 STUDY. 

6 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that 

7 the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study is ex8 panded to include a mortality and morbidity study exam9 ining the health outcomes of applicable Vietnam Veterans. 

10 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HEALTH AS11 SESSMENT AND ASSISTANCE FOR VIET12 NAMESE AMERICANS. 

13 (a) HEALTH ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Vet14 erans Affairs shall make grants to appropriate public 

15 health organizations and Vietnamese-American organiza16 tions for the purpose of conducting a broad health assess17 ment of Vietnamese-Americans who may have been ex18 posed to Agent Orange and their children to determine 

19 the effects to their health of such exposure. 

20 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall establish cen21 ters in locations in the United States where large popu22 lations of Vietnamese-Americans reside for the purpose of 

23 providing assessment, counseling, and treatment for con24 ditions related to exposure to Agent Orange. The Sec25 retary may carry out this subsection through appropriate 


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1 community and nongovernmental organizations or other 

2 suitable organizations, as determined by the Secretary. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

4 For purposes of this Act: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘Agent Orange’’ includes any 

6 chemical compound which became part, either by de7 sign or through impurities, of an herbicide agent 

8 used in support of the United States and allied mili9 tary operations in the Republic of Vietnam. 

10 (2) The term ‘‘victim’’ includes any individual 

11 who is a Vietnamese national, Vietnamese-American, 

12 or United States veteran who was exposed to agent 

13 grange, or the progeny of such an individual, and 

14 who has a disease or disability associated with this 

15 exposure. 

16 (3) The term ‘‘impacted zone’’ includes the 

17 areas of Southeast Asia known to have been con18 taminated with Agent Orange, including southern 

19 Vietnam (the former South Vietnam), western Cam20 bodia, southern Laos and surrounding airspace and 

21 ocean ways. 

22 (4) The term ‘‘exposure period’’ includes— 

23 (A) for a United States veteran, any time 

24 from January 9, 1962, through May 7, 1975; 

25 and 


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1 (B) for a Vietnamese-American, the time 

2 period beginning on January 9, 1962, and end3 ing when the person emigrated from Vietnam; 

4 and 

5 (C) for a Vietnamese national, any time 

6 after January 9, 1962. 

7 (5) The term ‘‘veteran’’ includes any person 

8 who served on active or reserve duty in the Armed 

9 Forces during the exposure period in the impacted 

10 zone of the Republic of Vietnam including the inland 

11 waterways of such Republic, the waters offshore of 

12 such Republic, and the airspace above such Repub13 lic. 

14 SEC. 8. DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

15 Not later than six months after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and 

17 the Secretary of State shall each complete a plan for the 

18 implementation of the applicable provisions of this Act and 

19 shall issue a request for proposals, if applicable. The Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of State shall 

21 implement the provisions of this Act by not later than 18 

22 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 SEC. 9. QUARTERLY REPORTS. 

24 Not later than 30 days after the last day of a fiscal 

25 quarter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:01 Jul 26, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2634.IH H2634

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1 retary of State shall each submit to Congress a report on 

2 the implementation of the applicable provisions of this Act 

3 during the fiscal quarter covered by the report. 

Æ 


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