[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.''.
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