[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2026 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2026

 To amend title 38, United States Code, chapter 11, to clarify that an 
    award of benefits based on a regulatory presumption established 
  pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 1116 after September 30, 2002, cannot be made 
    effective earlier than the date the regulatory presumption was 
established; and to clarify that the presumption of herbicide exposure 
 provided by 38 U.S.C. 1116(f) applies only to veterans who served in 
 Vietnam on land or on Vietnam's inland waterways and not to those who 
          served only in waters offshore or in airspace above.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 6, 2007

 Mr. Akaka (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read 
        twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, chapter 11, to clarify that an 
    award of benefits based on a regulatory presumption established 
  pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 1116 after September 30, 2002, cannot be made 
    effective earlier than the date the regulatory presumption was 
established; and to clarify that the presumption of herbicide exposure 
 provided by 38 U.S.C. 1116(f) applies only to veterans who served in 
 Vietnam on land or on Vietnam's inland waterways and not to those who 
          served only in waters offshore or in airspace above.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Agent Orange 
Equitable Compensation Act''.
    (b) References.--Wherever in this Act an amendment is expressed in 
terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 
38, United States Code.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PRESUMPTIONS BASED ON 
              HERBICIDE EXPOSURE; PROHIBITION ON RETROACTIVE PAYMENT.

    (a) Section 1116 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(g) Presumptions established pursuant to this section after 
September 30, 2002, shall not be considered to be presumptions 
established pursuant to the Agent Orange Act of 1991. Awards based on 
such presumptions are subject to section 5110 of this title and shall 
not in any event be made effective earlier than the effective date of 
the regulation establishing the presumption.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The provisions of section 1116(g) as added by 
this Act apply to any determination made on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act concerning a person's entitlement to benefits 
administered by the Secretary.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF SERVICE IN THE REPUBLIC OF 
              VIETNAM.

    (a) Paragraph (f) of section 1116 is amended by adding to the end 
of that paragraph the following:
``For the purposes of this presumption, a veteran will be considered to 
have served in the Republic of Vietnam only if the veteran was 
physically present on land in Vietnam, or on its inland waterways and 
not if the veteran served only on the waters offshore or in airspace 
above.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The provisions of section 1116(f), as amended 
by this Act, apply to any claim filed on or after February 6, 1991, 
that is still pending on the date of enactment of this Act, including a 
claim to reopen or revise a previously denied claim, and to any claim 
filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act. A claim is pending 
if it has not been the subject of a final VA decision granting or 
denying benefits, or if such a decision is currently on appeal before a 
court.
                                 <all>