[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3548 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3548

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of 
service-connection for certain veterans with tinnitus or hearing loss, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 1, 2022

Ms. Smith (for herself and Mr. Sanders) 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, to establish a presumption of 
service-connection for certain veterans with tinnitus or hearing loss, 
                        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 ``Veterans Hearing Benefits Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTION FOR HEARING LOSS AND 
              TINNITUS.

    Section 1112 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) For purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to 
the provisions of section 1113 of this title, diagnosed hearing loss, 
tinnitus, or both of a veteran described in paragraph (2) shall be 
considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by the active 
military, naval, or air service of the veteran, notwithstanding that 
there is no record of evidence of such hearing loss or tinnitus, as the 
case may be, during the period of such service.
    ``(2) A veteran described in this paragraph is a veteran who while 
on active military, naval, or air service--
            ``(A) was assigned to a military occupational specialty or 
        equivalent described in paragraph (3); or
            ``(B) served in combat.
    ``(3) A military occupational specialty or equivalent referred to 
in paragraph (2)(A) is a military occupational specialty or equivalent 
in which individuals assigned to such military occupational specialty 
or equivalent in the active military, naval, or air service are or were 
likely to be exposed to a sufficiently high level of acoustic trauma as 
to result in permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, as determined 
by the Secretary.''.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION TO SCHEDULE FOR RATES FOR DISABILITY COMPENSATION.

    Pursuant to section 1155 of title 38, United States Code, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall adjust the schedule of rating 
disabilities to establish a minimum disability rating for a veteran who 
requires a hearing aid because of a service-connected disability, 
including pursuant to section 1112(d) of such title, as amended by 
section 2.
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