[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5026 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5026
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of
service connection for illnesses associated with service in the Armed
Forces in the Panama Canal Zone, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 13, 2021
Ms. Newman (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of
service connection for illnesses associated with service in the Armed
Forces in the Panama Canal Zone, 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 ``Panama Canal Zone Veterans Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE CONNECTION.
(a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 11 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1119. Presumption of service connection for illnesses associated
with service in the Panama Canal Zone
``(a) In General.--(1) For purposes of section 1110 of this title,
and subject to section 1113 of this title, each illness, if any,
described in paragraph (2) shall be considered to have been incurred in
or aggravated by service referred to in that paragraph, notwithstanding
that there is no record of evidence of such illness during the period
of such service.
``(2) An illness referred to in paragraph (1) is any illness--
``(A) that--
``(i) is described in paragraph (3); or
``(ii) the Secretary determines in regulations
prescribed under this section warrants a presumption of
service connection by reason of having a positive
association with exposure to an herbicide agent known
or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed
Forces in or near the Panama Canal Zone during the
covered period; and
``(B) that becomes manifest within the period, if any,
prescribed in such regulations in a veteran who served on
active duty in or near the Panama Canal Zone during the covered
period and by reason of such service was exposed to such agent.
``(3) An illness described in this paragraph is any of the
following:
``(A) Chronic B-cell leukemia.
``(B) Hodgkin's disease.
``(C) Multiple myeloma.
``(D) Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
``(E) Prostate cancer.
``(F) Respiratory cancers (including lung cancer).
``(G) Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma,
chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma).
``(H) AL amyloidosis.
``(I) Chloracne and any other type of acneiform disease the
Secretary determines is similar.
``(J) Diabetes mellitus type 2.
``(K) Ischemic heart disease.
``(L) Parkinson's disease.
``(M) Early onset peripheral neuropathy.
``(N) Porphyria cutanea tarda.
``(O) Bladder cancer.
``(P) Hypothyroidism.
``(b) Regulations.--(1) Whenever the Secretary makes a
determination described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall prescribe
regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is
warranted for the illness covered by that determination for purposes of
this section.
``(2) A determination described in this paragraph is a
determination based on sound medical and scientific evidence that a
positive association exists between--
``(A) the exposure of humans to a herbicide agent known or
presumed to be associated with service in or near the Panama
Canal Zone; and
``(B) the occurrence of a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness
in humans.
``(3) In making determinations for purposes of paragraph (2), the
Secretary shall--
``(A) take into account all sound medical and scientific
information and analyses available to the Secretary;
``(B) in evaluating any report, information, or analysis,
take into consideration whether the results are statistically
significant, are capable of replication, and withstand peer
review; and
``(C) consider an association between the occurrence of an
illness in humans and exposure to an herbicide agent to be
positive for purposes if the credible evidence for the
association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence
against the association.
``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
``(1) The term `covered period' means the period beginning
on January 1, 1958, and ending on the latter of the following
dates, as determined by the Secretary:
``(A) December 31, 1999.
``(B) The date on which the last member of the
Armed Forces departed from official duty in the Panama
Canal Zone.
``(2) The term `herbicide agent' means a chemical in an
herbicide, including Agent Purple and Agent Orange.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
1118 the following new item:
``1119. Presumption of service connection for illnesses associated with
service in the Panama Canal Zone.''.
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