[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 8, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4590. Mrs. McCASKILL (for herself and Mr. Blunt) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle I of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1097. RECONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS FOR DISABILITY
COMPENSATION FOR VETERANS WHO WERE THE SUBJECTS
OF MUSTARD GAS OR LEWISITE EXPERIMENTS DURING
WORLD WAR II.
(a) Reconsideration of Claims for Disability Compensation
in Connection With Exposure to Mustard Gas or Lewisite.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall reconsider
all claims for compensation described in paragraph (2) and
make a new determination regarding each such claim.
(2) Claims for compensation described.--Claims for
compensation described in this paragraph are claims for
compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States
Code, that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines are
in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite during
active military, naval, or air service during World War II
and that were denied before the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(3) Presumption of exposure.--In carrying out paragraph
(1), if the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Secretary of
Defense makes a determination regarding whether a veteran who
has filed a claim for compensation described in paragraph (2)
has experienced full-body exposure to mustard gas or
lewisite, such Secretary--
(A) shall presume that the veteran experienced full-body
exposure to mustard gas or lewisite, as the case may be,
unless proven otherwise; and
(B) may not use information contained in the DoD and VA
Chemical Biological Warfare Database or any list of known
testing sites for mustard gas or lewisite maintained by the
Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense
as the sole reason for determining that the veteran did not
experience full-body exposure to mustard gas or lewisite.
(4) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than once
every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report specifying any claims reconsidered under paragraph (1)
that were denied during the 90-day period preceding the
submittal of the report, including the rationale for each
such denial.
(b) Development of Policy.--Not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly
establish a policy for processing future claims for
compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States
Code, that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines are
in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite during
active military, naval, or air service during World War II.
(c) Investigation and Report by Secretary of Defense.--Not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) for purposes of determining whether a site should be
added to the list of the Department of Defense of sites where
mustard gas or lewisite testing occurred, investigate and
assess sites where--
(A) the Army Corps of Engineers has uncovered evidence of
mustard gas or lewisite testing; or
(B) more than two veterans have submitted claims for
compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States
Code, in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite
at such site and such claims were denied; and
(2) submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report on experiments conducted by the Department of Defense
during World War II to assess the effects of mustard gas and
lewisite on people, which shall include--
(A) a list of each location where such an experiment
occurred, including locations investigated and assessed under
paragraph (1);
(B) the dates of each such experiment; and
(C) the number of members of the Armed Forces who were
exposed to mustard gas or lewisite in each such experiment.
(d) Investigation and Report by Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall--
(1) investigate and assess--
(A) the actions taken by the Secretary to reach out to
individuals who had been exposed to mustard gas or lewisite
in the experiments described in subsection (c)(2)(A); and
(B) the claims for disability compensation under laws
administered by the Secretary that were filed with the
Secretary and the percentage of such claims that were denied
by the Secretary; and
(2) submit to the appropriate committees of Congress--
(A) a report on the findings of the Secretary with respect
to the investigations and assessments carried out under
paragraph (1); and
(B) a comprehensive list of each location where an
experiment described in subsection (c)(2)(A) was conducted.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The terms ``active military, naval, or air service'',
``veteran'', and ``World War II'' have the meanings given
such terms in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
(2) The term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Special Committee on Aging of the
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on
Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
(3) The term ``full-body exposure'', with respect to
mustard gas or lewisite, has the meaning given that term by
the Secretary of Defense.
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