[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1091 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1091

 To amend section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, to modify and 
    extend authorities on the presumption of service-connection for 
 herbicide-related disabilities of Vietnam era veterans, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 22, 2001

Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. Daschle, and Mr. Specter) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                          on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, to modify and 
    extend authorities on the presumption of service-connection for 
 herbicide-related disabilities of Vietnam era veterans, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF AUTHORITIES ON THE PRESUMPTION 
              OF SERVICE-CONNECTION FOR HERBICIDE-RELATED DISABILITIES 
              OF VIETNAM ERA VETERANS.

    (a) Repeal of 30-Year Limitation on Manifestation of Respiratory 
Cancers.--Subsection (a)(2)(F) of section 1116 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``within 30 years'' and all that 
follows through ``May 7, 1975''.
    (b) Treatment of Claims Denied Under Limitation on Manifestation.--
(1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall treat each claim for 
disability compensation under section 1116 of title 38, United States 
Code, for a disease covered by subsection (a)(2)(F) of that section 
that was denied by reason of the 30-year limitation on manifestation 
specified in that subsection (as that subsection was in effect on the 
day before the date of the enactment of this Act) as having been 
submitted under that section as amended by subsection (a).
    (2) In the case of an award of compensation with respect to a claim 
described in paragraph (1)--
            (A) the effective date of the award shall be the date on 
        which the claim would otherwise have been granted had the 
        limitation referred to in that paragraph not applied to the 
        claim when originally submitted; and
            (B) the amount of compensation payable for the claim for 
        any month before the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 
        the amount of disability compensation provided for under 
        chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, for that month.
    (c) Presumption of Exposure to Herbicide Agents in Vietnam During 
Vietnam Era.--(1) Section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, is 
further amended--
            (A) by transferring paragraph (3) of subsection (a) to the 
        end of the section and redesignating such paragraph, as so 
        transferred, as subsection (f); and
            (B) in subsection (f), as so transferred and redesignated--
                    (i) by striking ``For the purposes of this 
                subsection, a veteran'' and inserting ``For purposes of 
                establishing a service connection for a disability 
                resulting from exposure to a herbicide agent, including 
                a presumption of service-connection under this section, 
                a veteran''; and
                    (ii) by striking ``and has a disease referred to in 
                paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection''.
    (2)(A) The section heading of that section is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 1116. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated 
              with exposure to certain herbicide agents; presumption of 
              exposure''.
    (B) The table of section at the beginning of chapter 11 of that 
title is amended by striking the item relating to section 1116 and 
inserting the following new item:

``1116. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with 
                            exposure to certain herbicide agents; 
                            presumption of exposure.''.
    (d) Extension of Authority To Presume Service-Connection for 
Additional Diseases.--(1) Subsection (e) of section 1116 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ``10 years'' and inserting 
``20 years''.
    (2) Section 3(i) of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 (38 U.S.C. 1116 
note) is amended by striking ``10 years'' and inserting ``20 years''.
    (e) Technical Amendment.--Subsection (a)(2)(F) of section 1116 of 
title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a) of this 
section, is further amended by inserting ``of disability'' after 
``manifest to a degree''.
                                 <all>