115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 299 
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,
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’
‘‘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-
atives and the Senate updates on the status of such 
regulations. 
(3) PENDING CASES.— 
(A) AUTHORITY TO STAY.—The Secretary 
may stay a claim described in subparagraph 
(B) until the date on which the Secretary com-
mences the implementation of such section 
1116A. 
(B) CLAIMS
DESCRIBED.—A claim de-
scribed in this subparagraph is a claim for dis-
ability compensation— 
(i) relating to the service and diseases 
covered by such section 1116A; and 
(ii) that is pending at the Veterans 
Benefits Administration or the Board of 
Veterans’ Appeals on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and before the 
date on which the Secretary commences 
the implementation of such section 1116A. 
(d) OUTREACH.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall conduct outreach to inform veterans de-
scribed in paragraph (2) of the ability to submit a 
claim for disability compensation under section
1116A of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a). 
(2) VETERAN DESCRIBED.—A veteran described 
in this paragraph is a veteran who, during active 
military, naval, or air service, served offshore of the 
Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on 
January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. 
(e) REPORTS.—Not later than January 1, 2020, and 
not later than January 1, 2022, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report on claims for disability compensation under section 
1116A of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub-
section (a). Each report shall include the following with 
respect to the period covered by the report, disaggregated 
by the regional offices of the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs: 
(1) The number of claims filed under such sec-
tion. 
(2) The number of such claims granted. 
(3) The number of such claims denied. 
(f) HEALTH CARE.—Section 1710(e)(4) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 
offshore of such Republic as described in section 1116A(d)
of this title)’’ after ‘‘served on active duty in the Republic 
of Vietnam’’. 
(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on January 1, 2019. 
SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF HERBICIDE EXPOSURE FOR CER-
TAIN VETERANS WHO SERVED IN KOREA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1116A, 
as added by section 2, the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1116B. Presumption of herbicide exposure for cer-
tain veterans who served in Korea 
‘‘(a) PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTION.—(1) 
For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject 
to section 1113 of this title, a disease specified in sub-
section (b) that becomes manifest as specified in that sub-
section in a veteran described in paragraph (2) shall be 
considered to have been incurred or aggravated in the line 
of duty in the active military, naval, or air service, not-
withstanding that there is no record of evidence of such 
disease during the period of such service. 
‘‘(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a vet-
eran who, during active military, naval, or air service, 
served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), 
during the period beginning on September 1, 1967, and 
ending on August 31, 1971.