[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3552-S3554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1044. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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 appropriate place, insert the following:
[[Page S3553]]
DIVISION _____--VIEQUES RECOVERY AND REDEVELOPMENT
SEC. ___01. SHORT TITLE.
This division may be cited as the ``Vieques Recovery and
Redevelopment Act''.
SEC. ___02. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto Rico,
measuring approximately 21 miles long by 4 miles wide, and
located approximately 8 miles east of the main island of
Puerto Rico.
(2) Prior to Hurricane Maria, residents of Vieques were
served by an urgent medical care facility, the Susana Centeno
Family Health Center, and residents had to travel off-island
to obtain medical services, including most types of emergency
care because the facility did not have the basic use of x-ray
machines, CT machines, EKG machines, ultrasounds, or PET
scans.
(3) The predominant means of transporting passengers and
goods between Vieques and the main island of Puerto Rico is
by ferry boat service, and over the years, the efficiency of
this service has frequently been disrupted, unreliable, and
difficult for cancer patients to endure to receive treatment.
Each trip to Ceiba, Puerto Rico, for the cancer patient is an
additional out-of-pocket expense ranging from $120 to $200.
(4) The United States Military maintained a presence on the
eastern and western portions of Vieques for close to 60
years, and used parts of the island as a training range
during those years, dropping over 80 million tons of ordnance
and other weaponry available to the United States military
since World War II.
(5) The unintended, unknown, and unavoidable consequences
of these exercises were to expose Americans living on the
islands to the residue of that weaponry which includes heavy
metals and many other chemicals now known to harm human
health.
(6) According to Government and independent documentation,
the island of Vieques has high levels of heavy metals and has
been exposed to chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. Since
the military activity in Vieques, island residents have
suffered from the health impacts from long-term exposure to
environmental contamination as a result of 62 years of
military operations, and have experienced higher rates of
certain diseases among residents, including cancer,
cirrhosis, hypertension, diabetes, heavy metal diseases,
along with many unnamed and uncategorized illnesses. These
toxic residues have caused the American residents of Vieques
to develop illnesses due to ongoing exposure.
(7) In 2017, Vieques was hit by Hurricane Maria, an
unusually destructive storm that devastated Puerto Rico and
intensified the existing humanitarian crisis on the island by
destroying existing medical facilities.
(8) The medical systems in place prior to Hurricane Maria
were unable to properly handle the health crisis that existed
due to the toxic residue left on the island by the military's
activities.
(9) After Maria, the medical facility was closed due to
damage and continues to be unable to perform even the few
basic services that it did provide. Vieques needs a medical
facility that can treat and address the critical and urgent
need to get life-saving medical services to its residents.
Due to legal restrictions, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (in this division referred to as ``FEMA'') is unable
to provide a hospital where its capabilities exceed the
abilities of the facility that existed prior to Maria;
therefore Vieques needs assistance to build a facility to
manage the vast health needs of its residents.
(10) Every American has benefitted from the sacrifices of
those Americans who have lived and are living on Vieques and
it is our intent to acknowledge that sacrifice and to treat
those Americans with the same respect and appreciation that
other Americans enjoy.
(11) In 2012, the residents of Vieques were denied the
ability to address their needs in Court due to sovereign
immunity, Sanchez v. United States, No. 3:09-cv-01260-DRD
(D.P.R.). However, the United States Court of Appeals for the
First Circuit referred the issue to Congress and urged it to
address the humanitarian crisis. This bill attempts to
satisfy that request such that Americans living on Vieques
have a remedy for the suffering they have endured.
SEC. ___03. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES
FOR CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF THE ISLAND OF VIEQUES,
PUERTO RICO.
(a) In General.--An individual claimant who has resided on
the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for not less than 5 years
before the date of enactment of this Act and files a claim
for compensation under this section with the Special Master,
appointed pursuant to subsection (c), shall be awarded
monetary compensation as described in subsection (b) if--
(1) the Special Master determines that the claimant is or
was a resident or an immediate heir (as determined by the
laws of Puerto Rico) of a deceased claimant on the island of
Vieques, Puerto Rico, during or after the United States
Government used the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for
military readiness;
(2) the claimant filed a lawsuit or an administrative claim
prior to July 25, 2023, against the United States Government
for personal injury, including illness or death arising from
use by the United States Government of the island of Vieques
for military readiness; and
(3) the claimant produces evidence to the Special Master
sufficient to show that a causal relationship exists between
the claimant's chronic, life-threatening, or physical disease
or illness limited to cancer, hypertension, cirrhosis, kidney
disease, diabetes, or a heavy metal poisoning and the United
States Government's use of the island of Vieques, Puerto
Rico, for military readiness, or that a causal relationship
is at least as likely as not, which may be in the form of a
sworn claimant affidavit stating the years the claimant lived
on Vieques and the disease or illness with which the claimant
has been diagnosed and which may be supplemented with
additional information, including a medical professional
certification, at the request of the Special Master.
(b) Amounts of Award.--
(1) In general.--A claimant who meets the requirements of
subsection (a) shall be awarded compensation as follows:
(A) $50,000 for 1 disease described in subsection (a)(3).
(B) $80,000 for 2 diseases described in subsection (a)(3).
(C) $110,000 for 3 or more diseases described in subsection
(a)(3).
(2) Increase in award.--In the case that an individual
receiving an award under paragraph (1) of this subsection
contracts another disease under subsection (a)(3) and files a
new claim with the Special Master for an additional award not
later than 10 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Special Master may award the individual an amount
that is equal to the difference between--
(A) the amount that the individual would have been eligible
to receive had the disease been contracted before the
individual filed an initial claim under subsection (a); and
(B) the amount received by the individual pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(3) Deceased claimants.--In the case of an individual who
dies before making a claim under this section or a claimant
who dies before receiving an award under this section, any
immediate heir to the individual or claimant, as determined
by the laws of Puerto Rico, shall be eligible for one of the
following awards:
(A) Compensation in accordance with paragraph (1), divided
among any such heir.
(B) Compensation based on the age of the deceased if the
claimant produces evidence sufficient to conclude that a
causal relationship exists between the United States Military
activity and the death of the individual or that a causal
relationship is as likely as not as follows:
(i) In the case of an individual or claimant who dies
before attaining 20 years of age, $110,000, divided among any
such heir.
(ii) In the case of an individual or claimant who dies
before attaining 40 years of age, $80,000, divided among any
such heir.
(iii) In the case of an individual or claimant who dies
before attaining 60 years of age, $50,000, divided among any
such heir.
(c) Appointment of Special Master.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall appoint a
Special Master not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act to consider claims by individuals and
the municipality.
(2) Qualifications.--The Attorney General shall consider
the following in choosing the Special Master:
(A) The individual's experience in the processing of
victims' claims in relation to foreign or domestic
governments.
(B) The individual's balance of experience in representing
the interests of the United States and individual claimants.
(C) The individual's experience in matters of national
security.
(D) The individual's demonstrated abilities in
investigation and fact findings in complex factual matters.
(E) Any experience the individual has had advising the
United States Government.
(d) Award Amounts Related to Claims by the Municipality of
Vieques.--
(1) Award.--The Special Master, in exchange for its
administrative claims, shall provide the following as
compensation to the Municipality of Vieques:
(A) Staff.--The Special Master shall provide medical staff,
and other resources necessary to build and operate a level
three trauma center (in this section, referred to as
``medical facility'') with a cancer center and renal dialysis
unit and its equipment. The medical facility shall be able to
treat life-threatening, chronic, heavy metal, and physical
and mental diseases. The medical facility shall be able to
provide basic x-ray, EKG, internal medicine expertise,
medical coordination personnel and case managers, ultrasound,
and resources necessary to screen claimants described in
subsection (a) who are receiving treatment for the diseases
or illnesses described in paragraph (3) of that subsection
for cancer and the other prevailing health problems.
(B) Operations.--The Special Master shall fund the
operations of the medical facility to provide medical care
for pediatric and adult patients who reside on the island of
Vieques, allowing the patients to be referred for tertiary
and quaternary health care facilities when necessary, and
providing the transportation and medical costs when traveling
off the island of Vieques.
(C) Interim services.--Before the medical facility on the
island of Vieques is operational, the Special Master shall
provide to claimants described in subsection (a) who are
receiving treatment for the diseases or
[[Page S3554]]
illnesses described in paragraph (3) of that subsection--
(i) urgent health care air transport to hospitals on the
mainland of Puerto Rico from the island of Vieques;
(ii) medical coordination personnel and case managers;
(iii) telemedicine communication abilities; and
(iv) any other services that are necessary to alleviate the
health crisis on the island of Vieques.
(D) Screening.--The Special Master shall make available, at
no cost to the patient, medical screening for cancer,
cirrhosis, diabetes, and heavy metal contamination on the
island of Vieques.
(E) Academic partner.--The Special Master shall appoint an
academic partner, with appropriate experience and an
established relationship with the Municipality of Vieques,
that shall--
(i) lead a research and outreach endeavor on behalf of the
Municipality of Vieques;
(ii) select the appropriate scientific expertise and
administer defined studies, conducting testing and evaluation
of the soils, seas, plant and animal food sources, and the
health of residents; and
(iii) determine and implement the most efficient and
effective way to reduce the environmental toxins to a level
sufficient to return the soils, seas, food sources, and
health circumstances to a level that reduces the diseases on
the island of Vieques to the average in the United States.
(F) Duties.--The Special Master shall provide amounts
necessary for the academic partner and medical coordinator to
carry out the duties described in subparagraphs (A) through
(D).
(G) Procurement.--The Special Master shall provide amounts
necessary to compensate the Municipality of Vieques for--
(i) contractual procurement obligations and additional
expenses incurred by the municipality as a result of the
enactment of this section and settlement of its claim; and
(ii) any other damages and costs to be incurred by the
municipality, if the Special Master determines that it is
necessary to carry out the purpose of this section.
(H) Power source.--The Special Master shall determine the
best source of producing independent power on the island of
Vieques that is hurricane resilient and can effectively
sustain the needs of the island and shall authorize such
construction as an award to the Municipality of Vieques.
(2) Source.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
amounts awarded under this division shall be made from
amounts appropriated under section 1304 of title 31, United
States Code, commonly known as the ``Judgment Fund'', as if
claims were adjudicated by a United States District Court
under section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code.
(B) Limitation.--Total amounts awarded under this division
shall not exceed $1,000,000,000.
(3) Determination and payment of claims.--
(A) Establishment of filing procedures.--The Attorney
General shall establish procedures whereby individuals and
the municipality may submit claims for payments under this
section to the Special Master.
(B) Determination of claims.--The Special Master shall, in
accordance with this subsection, determine whether each claim
meets the requirements of this section. Claims filed by
residents of the island of Vieques that have been disposed of
by a court under chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code,
shall be treated as if such claims are currently filed.
(e) Action on Claims.--The Special Master shall make a
determination on any claim filed under the procedures
established under this section not later than 150 days after
the date on which the claim is filed.
(f) Payment in Full Settlement of Claims by Individuals and
the Municipality of Vieques Against the United States.--The
acceptance by an individual or the Municipality of Vieques of
a payment of an award under this section shall--
(1) be final and conclusive;
(2) be deemed to be in full satisfaction of all claims
under chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code; and
(3) constitute a complete release by the individual or
municipality of such claim against the United States and
against any employee of the United States acting in the scope
of employment who is involved in the matter giving rise to
the claim.
(g) Certification of Treatment of Payments Under Other
Laws.--Amounts paid to an individual under this section--
(1) shall be treated for purposes of the laws of the United
States as damages for human suffering; and
(2) may not be included as income or resources for purposes
of determining eligibility to receive benefits described in
section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31, United States Code, or the
amount of such benefits.
(h) Limitation on Claims.--A claim to which this section
applies shall be barred unless the claim is filed within 15
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(i) Attorney's Fees.--Notwithstanding any contract, a
representative may not receive, for services rendered in
connection with any claim under this division--
(1) more than 17 percent of a payment made under this
division for a previously filed lawsuit; or
(2) more than 12 percent for an administrative claim.
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