I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4605 
To provide compensation to certain residents of the island of Vieques, Puerto 
Rico, for the use of such island for military readiness, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 4, 2019 
Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico (for herself, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, 
and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide compensation to certain residents of the island 
of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for the use of such island for 
military readiness, 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 ‘‘Vieques Recovery and 
Redevelopment Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto 
Rico, measuring approximately 21 miles long by 4 
miles wide, and located approximately 8 miles east 
of the main island of Puerto Rico. 
(2) Prior to Hurricane Maria, residents of 
Vieques were served by an urgent medical care facil-
ity, the Susana Centeno Family Health Center, and 
residents had to travel off-island to obtain medical 
services, including most types of emergency care be-
cause the facility did not have the basic use of x-ray 
machines, 
CT 
machines, 
EKG 
machines, 
ultrasounds, or PET scans. 
(3) The predominant means of transporting 
passengers and goods between Vieques and the main 
island of Puerto Rico is by ferry boat service, and 
over the years, the efficiency of this service has fre-
quently been disrupted, unreliable, and difficult for 
cancer patients to endure to receive treatment. Each 
trip to Ceiba, Puerto Rico, for the cancer patient is 
an additional out-of-pocket expense ranging from 
$120 to $200. 
(4) The United States Military maintained a 
presence on the eastern and western portions of 
Vieques for close to 60 years, and used parts of the 
island as a training range during those years, drop-
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ping over 80 million tons of ordnance and other 
weaponry available to the United States military 
since World War II. 
(5) The unintended, unknown, and unavoidable 
consequences of these exercises were to expose 
Americans living on the islands to the residue of 
that weaponry which includes heavy metals and 
many other chemicals now known to harm human 
health. 
(6) According to Government and independent 
documentation, the island of Vieques has high levels 
of heavy metals and has been exposed to chemical 
weapons and toxic chemicals. Since the military ac-
tivity in Vieques, island residents have suffered from 
the health impacts from long-term exposure to envi-
ronmental contamination as a result of 62 years of 
military operations, and have experienced higher 
rates of certain diseases among residents, including 
cancer, cirrhosis, hypertension, diabetes, heavy metal 
diseases, 
along 
with 
many 
unnamed 
and 
uncategorized illnesses. These toxic residues have 
caused the American residents of Vieques to develop 
illnesses due to ongoing exposure. 
(7) In 2017, Vieques was hit by Hurricane 
Maria, an unusually destructive storm that dev-
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astated Puerto Rico and intensified the existing hu-
manitarian crisis on the island by destroying existing 
medical facilities. 
(8) The medical systems in place prior to Hur-
ricane Maria were unable to properly handle the 
health crisis that existed due to the toxic residue left 
on the island by the military’s activities. 
(9) After Maria, the medical facility was closed 
due to damage and continues to be unable to per-
form even the few basic services that it did provide. 
Vieques needs a medical facility that can treat and 
address the critical and urgent need to get life-sav-
ing medical services to its residents. Due to legal re-
strictions, the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (in this Act referred to as ‘‘FEMA’’) is un-
able to provide a hospital where its capabilities ex-
ceed the abilities of the facility that existed prior to 
Maria; therefore Vieques needs assistance to build a 
facility to manage the vast health needs of its resi-
dents. 
(10) Every American has benefitted from the 
sacrifices of those Americans who have lived and are 
living on Vieques and it is our intent to acknowledge 
that sacrifice and to treat those Americans with the 
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same respect and appreciation that other Americans 
enjoy. 
(11) In 2012, the residents of Vieques were de-
nied the ability to address their needs in Court due 
to sovereign immunity, Sa´nchez v. United States, 
No. 3:09–cv–01260–DRD (D.P.R.). However, the 
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 
referred the issue to Congress and urged it to ad-
dress the humanitarian crisis. This bill attempts to 
satisfy that request such that Americans living on 
Vieques have a remedy for the suffering they have 
endured. 
SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED 
STATES FOR CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF THE IS-
LAND OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual claimant who files 
a claim for compensation under this section with the Spe-
cial Master, appointed pursuant to subsection (c), shall be 
awarded monetary compensation as described in sub-
section (b) if— 
(1) the Special Master determines that the 
claimant is or was a resident, the child of a resident, 
or an immediate heir (as determined by the laws of 
Puerto Rico) of a deceased claimant on the island of 
Vieques, Puerto Rico, during or after the United 
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