[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3491 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3491

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of 
service connection for certain cancers occurring in veterans who served 
   in the Republic of Vietnam and were exposed to certain herbicide 
                    agents, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

 Mr. Kagen (for himself and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of 
service connection for certain cancers occurring in veterans who served 
   in the Republic of Vietnam and were exposed to certain herbicide 
                    agents, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Thomas G. Schubert Agent Orange 
Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Between 1962 and 1971, the Armed Forces sprayed 
        approximately 107 million pounds of herbicides in South Vietnam 
        for the purpose of defoliation and crop destruction.
            (2) Section 1116(a)(3) of title 38, United States Code, 
        defines the term ``herbicide agent'' as a chemical in an 
        herbicide used in support of the United States and allied 
        military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the 
        period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975.
            (3) It has been incontrovertibly established that exposure 
        to Agent Orange leads to long-term, systemic health problems 
        that can occur years after the exposure.
            (4) The amendments to title 38, United States Code, enacted 
        by the Veterans' Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 
        (Public Law 104-262) provide that a veteran does not have to 
        demonstrate a link between a certain health condition and 
        exposure to Agent Orange and other toxic substances used during 
        the Vietnam War in order to receive certain medical care 
        provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
            (5) Section 1116 of title 38, United States Code, provides 
        for a presumption of service connected disability when there is 
        exposure to an herbicide agent and the occurrence of a disease 
        if the credible evidence for such association is equal to or 
        outweighs the credible evidence against the association.
            (6) The Veterans' Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 
        1996 (Public Law 104-262) recognizes the Institute of Medicine 
        as a resource by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should 
        determine the association between the occurrence of a disease 
        and Agent Orange.
            (7) One established standard for the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs to deny a presumption of service connection for a 
        disability is that a disease shall be established by the 
        Institute of Medicine to have limited or suggestive evidence of 
        no association between the occurrence of the disease and 
        exposure to herbicide.
            (8) Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are recognized by 
        the Institute of Medicine as having inadequate or insufficient 
        evidence to determine association, which suggests that the 
        credible evidence of an association is equal to the credible 
        evidence against association.
            (9) Thomas George Schubert served honorably in the Army in 
        the Republic of Vietnam from 1966 to 1967 where it is presumed 
        he was exposed to Agent Orange.
            (10) He later developed esophageal cancer and passed away 
        as a result on August 29, 2002, his 56th birthday.
            (11) Thirty-five years after his discharge, the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs issued a ruling that Mr. Schubert's death 
        was service connected, stating, ``The preponderance of the 
        competent evidence relates the victim's cause of death, 
        esophageal cancer, to in-service Agent Orange exposure,'' and 
        ``Resolving any reasonable doubt in the appellants favor, that 
        his death is directly related to in-service exposure to Agent 
        Orange.''.

SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR CERTAIN CANCERS 
              ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE TO HERBICIDES DURING THE VIETNAM 
              ERA.

    Section 1116(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(I) Cancers of any tissues through the opening of the 
        gastrointestinal tract to the end, including any and all 
        carcinomas arising from tissues of endodermal origin, beginning 
        in the oral pharynx, extending through the esophagus, duodenum, 
        cecum, transverse and descending colon, as well as biliary and 
        pancreatic tissues, not to exclude the rectum, becoming 
        manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.''.
                                 <all>