I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2697
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of service
connection for purposes of veterans benefits for certain chronic symptoms
occurring in veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 4, 1999
Mr. MANZULLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a pre-
sumption of service connection for purposes of veterans
benefits for certain chronic symptoms occurring in vet-
erans who served in the Persian Gulf War.
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 ‘‘Persian Gulf War Syn-
drome Compensation Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Since the end of the Persian Gulf War, the
Federal Government has funded 121 research
projects to examine the illness known as the Persian
Gulf War Syndrome.
(2) The results of those studies clearly indicate
the existence of the syndrome, leading to disability
and sometimes death.
(3) Although the specific cause of the syndrome
has not been definitely diagnosed, the need to com-
pensate those veterans suffering from this illness is
clear because the connection between military service
in the Persian Gulf War theater and the syndrome
has been clearly established.
SEC. 3. COMPENSATION OF VETERANS WITH PERSIAN
GULF WAR SYNDROME.
(a) COMPENSATION.—(1) Chapter 11 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended by inserting after section
1117 the following new section:
‘‘§ 1117A. Presumption of service connection for Per-
sian Gulf War Syndrome
‘‘(a)(1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title,
and subject to section 1113 of this title, a specified chronic
symptom from which a covered Persian Gulf veteran with
Persian Gulf War Syndrome is suffering shall be consid-
ered to be a disease or disability incurred in or aggravated
by service in the active military, naval, or air service, not-
withstanding that there is no record of evidence of such
chronic symptom during the period of such service.
‘‘(b) For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered Persian Gulf War vet-
eran’ means a Persian Gulf veteran (as defined in
section 1117(f) of this title) any part of whose serv-
ice on active duty in the Armed Forces in the South-
west Asia theater of operations was during the pe-
riod beginning on August 2, 1990, and ending on
December 31, 1991.
‘‘(2) The term ‘Persian Gulf War Syndrome’
means a set of two or more specified chronic symp-
toms becoming manifest in a covered Persian Gulf
War veteran before January 1, 1995, regardless of
whether the cause of any such symptom is diag-
nosed.
‘‘(3) The term ‘specified chronic symptom’
means the frequent occurrence of any of the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(A) Joint pain.
‘‘(B) Muscle pain.
‘‘(C) Fatigue.
‘‘(D) Severe headache.
‘‘(E) Memory loss.
‘‘(F) Respiratory disorder.
‘‘(G) Sleep disturbances.
‘‘(H) Skin rash.
‘‘(I) Circulatory disorder.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 1117 the following new item:
‘‘1117A. Presumption of service connection for Persian Gulf War Syndrome.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1113 of
such title is amended by inserting ‘‘1117A,’’ before ‘‘or
1118’’ each place it appears.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1117A of title 38,
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall
apply with respect to claims submitted before, on, or after
the date of the enactment of this Act and regardless of
whether the claimant is alive or deceased.
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