IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 299 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 26, 2018 
Received 
JUNE 28, 2018 
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify presump-
tions relating to the exposure of certain veterans who 
served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Blue Water Navy Viet-
nam Veterans Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF EXPOSURE 
FOR VETERANS WHO SERVED IN VICINITY OF 
REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1116 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1116A. Presumptions of service connection for vet-
erans who served offshore of the Repub-
lic of Vietnam 
‘‘(a) SERVICE CONNECTION.—For the purposes of 
section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of 
this title, a disease covered by section 1116 of this title 
becoming manifest as specified in that section in a veteran 
who, during active military, naval, or air service, served 
offshore of the Republic of Vietnam during the period be-
ginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, 
shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated 
by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record 
of evidence of such disease during the period of such serv-
ice. 
‘‘(b) EXPOSURE.—A veteran who, during active mili-
tary, naval, or air service, served offshore of the Republic 
of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 
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1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to 
have been exposed during such service to an herbicide 
agent unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that 
the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that 
service. 
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AWARD.—(1) Except as 
provided by paragraph (2), the effective date of an award 
under this section shall be determined in accordance with 
section 5110 of this title. 
‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (g) of section 
5110 of this title, the Secretary shall determine the effec-
tive date of an award based on a claim under this section 
for an individual described in subparagraph (B) by treat-
ing the date on which the individual filed the prior claim 
specified in clause (i) of such subparagraph as the date 
on which the individual filed the claim so awarded under 
this section. 
‘‘(B) An individual described in this subparagraph is 
a veteran, or a survivor of a veteran, who meets the fol-
lowing criteria: 
‘‘(i) The veteran or survivor submitted a claim 
for disability compensation on or after September 
25, 1985, and before January 1, 2019, for a disease 
covered by this section, and the claim was denied by 
reason of the claim not establishing that the disease 
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was incurred or aggravated by the service of the vet-
eran. 
‘‘(ii) The veteran or survivor submits a claim 
for disability compensation on or after January 1, 
2019, for the same condition covered by the prior 
claim under clause (i), and the claim is approved 
pursuant to this section. 
‘‘(d) DETERMINATION
OF
OFFSHORE.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, for purposes of this 
section, the Secretary shall treat a location as being off-
shore of Vietnam if the location is not more than 12 nau-
tical miles seaward of a line commencing on the south-
western demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and 
Cambodia and intersecting the following points: 
‘‘Points Geographic Names 
Latitude 
North 
Lon-
gitude 
East 
At Hon Nhan Island, Tho Chu Archipelago 
Kien Giang Province 
9°15.0’ 
103°27.0’ 
At Hon Da Island southeast of Hon Khoai Is-
land Minh Hai Province 
8°22.8’ 
104°52.4’ 
At Tai Lon Islet, Con Dao Islet in Con Dao- 
Vung Toa Special Sector 
8°37.8’ 
106°37.5’ 
At Bong Lai Islet, Con Dao Islet 
8°38.9’ 
106°40.3’ 
At Bay Canh Islet, Con Dao Islet 
8°39.7’ 
106°42.1’ 
At Hon Hai Islet (Phu Qui group of islands) 
Thuan Hai Province 
9°58.0’ 
109°5.0’ 
At Hon Doi Islet, Thuan Hai Province 
12°39.0’ 
109°28.0’ 
At Dai Lanh point, Phu Khanh Province 
12°53.8’ 
109°27.2’ 
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‘‘Points Geographic Names 
Latitude 
North 
Lon-
gitude 
East 
At Ong Can Islet, Phu Khanh Province 
13°54.0’ 
109°21.0’ 
At Ly Son Islet, Nghia Binh Province 
15°23.1’ 
109° 9.0’ 
At Con Co Island, Binh Tri Thien Province 
17°10.0’ 
107°20.6’ 
‘‘(e) HERBICIDE AGENT.—In this section, the term 
‘herbicide agent’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 1116 (a)(3) of this title.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 1116 the following new 
item: 
‘‘1116A. Presumptions of service connection for veterans who served offshore of 
the Republic of Vietnam.’’. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) GUIDANCE.—Notwithstanding section 501 
of such title, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
issue guidance to implement section 1116A of title 
38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 
(2) UPDATES.—On a quarterly basis during the 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act and ending on the date on which regula-
tions are prescribed to carry out such section 
1116A, the Secretary shall submit to the Commit-
tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent-
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