I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5026 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of 
service connection for illnesses associated with service in the Armed 
Forces in the Panama Canal Zone, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 13, 2021 
Ms. NEWMAN (for herself and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a 
presumption of service connection for illnesses associated 
with service in the Armed Forces in the Panama Canal 
Zone, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Panama Canal Zone 
Veterans Act of 2021’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:33 Aug 14, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5026.IH
H5026
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 11 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1119. Presumption of service connection for ill-
nesses associated with service in the Pan-
ama Canal Zone 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) For purposes of section 1110 
of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title, each 
illness, if any, described in paragraph (2) shall be consid-
ered to have been incurred in or aggravated by service re-
ferred to in that paragraph, notwithstanding that there 
is no record of evidence of such illness during the period 
of such service. 
‘‘(2) An illness referred to in paragraph (1) is any 
illness— 
‘‘(A) that— 
‘‘(i) is described in paragraph (3); or 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines in regula-
tions prescribed under this section warrants a 
presumption of service connection by reason of 
having a positive association with exposure to 
an herbicide agent known or presumed to be as-
sociated with service in the Armed Forces in or 
near the Panama Canal Zone during the cov-
ered period; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:33 Aug 14, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5026.IH
H5026
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) that becomes manifest within the period, 
if any, prescribed in such regulations in a veteran 
who served on active duty in or near the Panama 
Canal Zone during the covered period and by reason 
of such service was exposed to such agent. 
‘‘(3) An illness described in this paragraph is any of 
the following: 
‘‘(A) Chronic B-cell leukemia. 
‘‘(B) Hodgkin’s disease. 
‘‘(C) Multiple myeloma. 
‘‘(D) Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 
‘‘(E) Prostate cancer. 
‘‘(F) Respiratory cancers (including lung can-
cer). 
‘‘(G) 
Soft-tissue 
sarcoma 
(other 
than 
osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or 
mesothelioma). 
‘‘(H) AL amyloidosis. 
‘‘(I) Chloracne and any other type of acneiform 
disease the Secretary determines is similar. 
‘‘(J) Diabetes mellitus type 2. 
‘‘(K) Ischemic heart disease. 
‘‘(L) Parkinson’s disease. 
‘‘(M) Early onset peripheral neuropathy. 
‘‘(N) Porphyria cutanea tarda. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:33 Aug 14, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5026.IH
H5026
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘(O) Bladder cancer. 
‘‘(P) Hypothyroidism. 
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—(1) Whenever the Secretary 
makes a determination described in paragraph (2), the 
Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing that a pre-
sumption of service connection is warranted for the illness 
covered by that determination for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(2) A determination described in this paragraph is 
a determination based on sound medical and scientific evi-
dence that a positive association exists between— 
‘‘(A) the exposure of humans to a herbicide 
agent known or presumed to be associated with serv-
ice in or near the Panama Canal Zone; and 
‘‘(B) the occurrence of a diagnosed or 
undiagnosed illness in humans. 
‘‘(3) In making determinations for purposes of para-
graph (2), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) take into account all sound medical and 
scientific information and analyses available to the 
Secretary; 
‘‘(B) in evaluating any report, information, or 
analysis, take into consideration whether the results 
are statistically significant, are capable of replica-
tion, and withstand peer review; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:33 Aug 14, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5026.IH
H5026
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘(C) consider an association between the occur-
rence of an illness in humans and exposure to an 
herbicide agent to be positive for purposes if the 
credible evidence for the association is equal to or 
outweighs the credible evidence against the associa-
tion. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered period’ means the pe-
riod beginning on January 1, 1958, and ending on 
the latter of the following dates, as determined by 
the Secretary: 
‘‘(A) December 31, 1999. 
‘‘(B) The date on which the last member 
of the Armed Forces departed from official duty 
in the Panama Canal Zone. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘herbicide agent’ means a chem-
ical in an herbicide, including Agent Purple and 
Agent Orange.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 1118 the following new 
item: 
‘‘1119. Presumption of service connection for illnesses associated with service in 
the Panama Canal Zone.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:33 Aug 14, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5026.IH
H5026
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS