This
bill is an attempt to clarify two regulations that were not being fully
implemented and to further define Undiagnosed Illnesses of the Gulf War
Vets....and to force the VA to compensate the Gulf WAR VETERANS.
107TH
CONGRESS H. R. __612______
1ST
SESSION
IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr.
MANZULLO introduced the following bill;
which
was referred to the Committee on__________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the stand-
ards for compensation for Persian Gulf veterans suf-
fering from certain undiagnosed illnesses, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the "Persian Gulf
War Ill-
5 ness Compensation Act of 2001".
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
2 Congress makes the following findings:
3 (1) Although the majority
of veterans of the
4 Armed Forces who served in the Persian Gulf War
5 returned from the Southwest Asia theater of oper-
6 ations to normal activities, many of those veterans
7 have experienced a range of unexplained illnesses,
8 including chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain,
loss
9 of concentration, forgetfulness, headache, and
rash.
10 (2) Those veterans were potentially
exposed to
11 a wide range of biological and chemical agents in-
12 eluding sand, smoke from oil-well fires, paints, sol-
13 vents, insecticides, petroleum fuels and their com-
14 bustion products, organophosphate nerve agents,
15 pyridostigmine bromide, depleted uranium, anthrax
16 and botulinum toroid vaccinations, and infectious
17 diseases, in addition to other psychological and phys-
18 iological stresses.
19 (3) Section 1117 of title
38, United States
20 Code, enacted on November 2, 1994, by the Persian
21 Gulf War Veterans' Benefits Act (title I of Public
22 Law 103-446), provides for the payment of com-
23 pensation to Persian Gulf veterans suffering from a
24 chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed ill-
25 ness (or combination of undiagnosed illnesses) that
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1 became manifest to a compensable degree within a
2 period prescribed by regulation.
3 (4) The Secretary
of Veterans Affairs pre-
4 scribed regulations under section 1117 of title 38,
5 United States Code, that interpreted that section so
6 as to limit compensation to Persian Gulf veterans
7 with illnesses that "cannot be attributed to any
8 known clinical diagnosis".
9 (5) In a
report dated September 7, 2000, the
10 Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
11 Sciences indicated that it was not asked to deter-
12 mine whether an identifiable medical syndrome re
13 ferred to as "Gulf War Syndrome" exists and sug.-
14 gested that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in de-
15 veloping· a compensation program for Persian Gulf
16 veterans, consider the health effects that may be as-
17 sociated with exposures to specific agents that were
18 present in the Southwest Asia theater of operations
19 during the Persian Gulf War.
20 sec. 3. COMPENSATION OF VETERANS OF PERSIAN GULF
21 WAR WHO HAVE CERTAIN ILLNESSES.
22 (a) PRESUMPTION PERIOD FOR UNDIAGNOSED ILL-
23 NESSES PROGRAM.--Section 1117 of title 38, United
24 States Code, is amended--
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1 (1) in subsection
(a)(2), by striking "within the
2 presumptive period prescribed under subsection
(b)"
3 and inserting "before December 31, 2011, or such
4 later date as the Secretary may prescribe by
regula-
5 tion"; and
6 (2) by striking
subsection (b).
7 (b) UNDIAGNOSED ILLNESSES.--Such section, as
8 amended by subsection (a); is further amended
by insert-
9 ing after subsection (a) the following new subsection
(b):
10 "(b)(l) For purposes of this section,
the term
11 'undiagnosed illness' means illness manifested by syrnp-
12 toms or signs the cause, etiology, or origin of which cannot
13 be specifically and definitely identified, including poorly
14 defined illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue
syn-
15 drome, autoimmune disorders, and multiple chemical sensi-
16 tivity. The attribution of one or more of the symptoms
17 to a disability that is not an undiagnosed illness shall
not
18 preclude other symptoms from being considered a mani-
19 festation of an undiagnosed illness.
20
"(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), signs or symp-
21 toms that may be a manifestation of an undiagnosed ill-
22 ness include the following:
23
"(A) Fatigue.
24
"(B) Unexplained rashes
25
logical signs or symptoms.
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1
"(C) Headache.
2
"(D) Muscle pain.
3
"(E) Joint pain.
4
"(F) Neurologic signs or symptoms.
5
"(G) Neuropsychological signs or symptoms.
6
"(H) Signs or symptoms involving the res-
7
piratory system (upper or lower).
8
"(I) Sleep disturbances.
9
"(J) Gastrointestinal signs or symptoms.
10
"(K) Cardiovascular signs or symptoms.
11
"(L) Abnormal weight loss.
12
"(M) Menstrual disorders.".
13 (c) PRESUMPTION
OF SERVICE CONNECTION PRO-
14 GRAM. ----Section 1118(a) of such title is amended
by add-
15 ing at the end the following new paragraph:
16 "(4) For
purposes of this section, the term
17 'undiagnosed illness' has the meaning
given that term in
18 section 1117(b) of this title.".
19 (d) EFFECTIVE
DATE.--(l) For purposes of section
20 5110(g) of title 38, United States Code--
21 (A) the
amendments to section 1117 of title 38,
22 United States Code, made by subsections
(a), (b),
23 and (c) shah take effect as of November
2, 1994;
24 and
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1 (B) the amendment
to section 1118 of title 38,
2 United States Code, made by
subsection (d) shall
3 take effect as of October 21,
1998.
4 (2) The second sentence of
section 5110(g) of title
5 38, United States Code, shall
not apply in the case of an
6 award, or increased award,
of compensation pursuant to
7 the amendments made by this
section if the date of appli-
8 cation therefor is not later
than one year after the date
9 of the enactment of this Act.