I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3052 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs to provide assistance for individuals affected by 
exposure to Agent Orange, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2025 
Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. SIMON, Mr. NADLER, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. CAR-
SON, and Ms. MCBRIDE) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide assistance 
for individuals affected by exposure to Agent Orange, 
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 ‘‘Agent Orange Relief 
Act of 2025’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) 
From 
1961 
to 
1971, 
approximately 
19,000,000 gallons of 15 different herbicides were 
sprayed over the southern region of Vietnam by the 
United States military. 
(2) The herbicides included 13,000,000 gallons 
of Agent Orange, 4,500,000 gallons of Agent White, 
1,000,000 gallons of Agent Blue, 420,000 gallons of 
Agent Purple, and relatively smaller quantities of 
the other herbicides. Many of the herbicides, includ-
ing Agents Orange, Purple, Green, Pink, Dinoxol, 
and Trinoxol, contained the toxic contaminant dioxin 
(TCDD). Agent Blue contained high levels of ar-
senic. The 15 herbicides, including the contaminant 
dioxin, are usually collectively referred to as Agent 
Orange. 
(3) Between 1961 and 1971, nearly 20,000 
spraying missions were carried out in an area of 
about 1,700,000 hectares. This represented about 10 
percent of South Vietnam and portions of Laos and 
Cambodia. These amounts only account for the 
United States Air Force Operation Ranch Hand 
spraying and do not include the widespread use of 
Agent Orange by the Army Chemical Corps, Central 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
Intelligence Agency, and South Vietnamese Govern-
ment. 
(4) Studies have found that between 2,100,000 
and 4,800,000 Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian 
people and tens of thousands of Americans were ex-
posed to Agent Orange during the spraying oper-
ations. Many other Vietnamese people were or con-
tinue to be exposed to Agent Orange through con-
tact with the environment and food that was con-
taminated. Many offspring of those who were ex-
posed have birth defects, developmental disabilities, 
and other diseases. 
(5) Agent Orange exposure continues to nega-
tively affect the lives of veterans of the United 
States Armed Forces, Vietnamese people, Viet-
namese Americans, and their children. The lives of 
many victims are cut short, and others live with dis-
ease, disabilities, and pain, which are often un-
treated or unrecognized. 
(6) The Department of Veterans Affairs recog-
nizes 19 illnesses and diseases in United States Viet-
nam war veterans, including AL amyloidosis, blad-
der cancer, chronic B- cell leukemia, chloracne, dia-
betes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure (hyper-
tension), 
Hodgkin’s 
disease, 
hypothyroidism, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
ischemic heart disease, monoclonal gammopathy of 
undetermined 
significance 
(MGUS), 
multiple 
myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Parkinson’s 
disease, Parkinsonism, acute and sub-acute periph-
eral neuropathy, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate 
cancer, respiratory cancers, and soft-tissue sarcomas 
associated with the spraying and use of Agent Or-
ange by the United States Armed Forces during the 
Vietnam era. 
(7) No similar recognition has been given to af-
fected Vietnamese or Vietnamese Americans. 
(8) The Department of Veterans Affairs pro-
vides compensation for many severe birth defects 
among the children of United States women veterans 
who served in Vietnam. The list of birth defects cov-
ered includes, but is not limited to, achondroplasia, 
cleft lip, cleft palate, congenital heart disease, con-
genital talipes equinovarus (clubfoot), esophageal 
and intestinal atresia, Hallerman-Streiff syndrome, 
hip dysplasia, Hirschsprung’s disease (congenital 
megacolon), hydrocephalus due to aqueductal ste-
nosis, hypospadias, imperforate anus, neural tube 
defects, 
Poland 
syndrome, 
pyloric 
stenosis, 
syndactyly (fused digits), tracheoesophageal fistula, 
undescended testes, and Williams syndrome. Af-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
fected children of these women veterans receive med-
ical care and other benefits. 
(9) However, the care and compensation pro-
vided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to the 
covered children of United States veterans is insuffi-
cient to meet their needs related to Agent Orange. 
(10) The only birth defect recognized for the 
children of male American veterans is spina bifida 
(but not occulta). However, many children of male 
Vietnam war veterans have the same range of birth 
defects and diseases as seen in the children of fe-
male Vietnam war veterans. This discrepancy results 
in most Agent Orange affected children of United 
States veterans receiving no care or benefits. 
(11) No assistance has been given to the chil-
dren of male or female Vietnamese or Vietnamese 
Americans connected with their exposure, or their 
parents’ or grandparents’ exposure. 
(12) The Institute of Medicine for the past sev-
eral years has noted that ‘‘it is considerably more 
plausible than previously believed that exposure to 
the herbicides sprayed in Vietnam might have 
caused paternally mediated transgenerational effects 
attributable to the TCCD contaminant in Agent Or-
ange’’. In recent years, scientific studies have identi-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
fied likely epigenetic links between exposure to tox-
ins and birth defects and developmental disorders in 
subsequent generations. Some of the children and 
grandchildren of exposed persons (Americans, Viet-
namese, and Vietnamese Americans) who were in 
southern Vietnam during the Vietnam war era likely 
suffer from disorders, birth defects, and illnesses re-
lated to Agent Orange. 
(13) The assistance that the United States has 
provided for environmental remediation of contami-
nation at the Da Nang and Bien Hoa airports has, 
in recent years, included funds for public health and 
disabilities activities for individuals residing in some 
affected areas. 
(14) Laos and Cambodia were also sprayed 
with Agent Orange during the Vietnam war era. At 
least 527,000 gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed 
in Laos and significant amounts were also sprayed 
in Cambodia. Affected Lao and Cambodian people 
over several generations suffer from medical condi-
tions, birth defects, and disabilities similar to those 
seen in Vietnam and the United States. The United 
States has the responsibility to take action to miti-
gate and provide compensation for those effects. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
Further action will be needed to ascertain and effec-
tively address this legacy of the Vietnam war. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ad-
dress and remediate the ongoing damage that arose or will 
continue to arise from the use of Agent Orange during 
the Vietnam war. 
SEC. 3. PROVISION OF BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN OF MALE 
VETERANS WHO SERVED IN VIETNAM WHO 
ARE AFFECTED BY CERTAIN BIRTH DEFECTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 18 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘woman Vietnam veteran’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘Vietnam veteran’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘women Vietnam veterans’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘Vietnam veterans’’; 
and 
(3) in the heading of such subchapter, by strik-
ing ‘‘Woman’’. 
(b) ACCESS
TO RECORDS
FOR RESEARCH PUR-
POSES.—Section 1813 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(c) ACCESS
TO RECORDS
FOR RESEARCH PUR-
POSES.—(1) The Secretary shall require any health care 
provider with whom the Secretary enters into a contract 
under this subsection to provide access to the medical 
records of individuals who receive health care under this 
section to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the pur-
pose of conducting research or providing support for re-
search into the intergenerational effects of Agent Orange 
exposure. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘Agent Orange’ in-
cludes any chemical compound which became part, either 
by design or through impurities, of an herbicide agent 
used in support of the United States and allied military 
operations in the Republic of Vietnam.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by striking 
the item relating to subchapter II and inserting the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER II—CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS BORN WITH CERTAIN 
BIRTH DEFECTS’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date that is 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. PUBLIC RESEARCH. 
(a) SUPPORT
FOR RESEARCH.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the heads of other 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
appropriate Federal agencies and nongovernmental orga-
nizations, shall identify and provide assistance to support 
research relating to health issues of individuals affected 
by Agent Orange. Such research should include rec-
ommended focus provided by the United States Institute 
of Medicine as identified in their biennial Veterans and 
Agent Orange Update and supported by the active involve-
ment of schools of public health and medicine located in 
the United States, Vietnam, and other interested coun-
tries. 
(b) SURVEY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct a survey of children of veterans who were 
exposed to Agent Orange and have received health care 
under subchapter II of chapter 18 of title 38, United 
States Code. The survey shall be designed to determine 
the extent to which such children are receiving adequate 
treatment for their medical conditions and disabilities. 
The Secretary shall make recommendations based on the 
survey as to any actions necessary to remedy any defi-
ciencies identified pursuant to the survey. 
SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND ASSISTANCE FOR 
VIETNAMESE AMERICANS. 
(a) HEALTH ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall make grants to appropriate 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
public health organizations and Vietnamese American or-
ganizations for the purpose of conducting a broad health 
assessment of Vietnamese Americans who may have been 
exposed to Agent Orange and their children or descend-
ants to determine the effects to their health of such expo-
sure. 
(b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall establish centers in locations in the 
United States where large populations of Vietnamese 
Americans reside for the purpose of providing assessment, 
counseling, and treatment for conditions related to expo-
sure to Agent Orange. The Secretary may carry out this 
subsection through appropriate community and non-
governmental organizations or other suitable organiza-
tions, as determined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 6. DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall each complete 
a plan for the implementation of the provisions of this Act, 
and the amendments made by this Act, that are applicable 
to such Secretary and shall issue a request for proposals, 
if applicable. The Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall each im-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
plement the applicable provisions of this Act by not later 
than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 7. QUARTERLY REPORTS. 
Not later than 30 days after the last day of each fis-
cal quarter beginning on or after 18 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall each submit to Congress a report on the implementa-
tion of the provisions of this Act applicable to such Sec-
retary during the immediately preceding fiscal quarter. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Agent Orange’’ 
includes any chemical compound which became part, ei-
ther by design or through impurities, of an herbicide agent 
used in support of the United States and allied military 
operations in the Republic of Vietnam. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:31 May 07, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3052.IH
H3052
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB