Arla Harrell Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reconsider and make a new determination regarding each claim for disability compensation in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite during active military, naval, or air service during World War II that was denied before this bill's enactment. The VA or the Department of Defense (DOD): (1) shall presume that a veteran experienced full-body exposure to mustard gas or lewisite unless proven otherwise; and (2) 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 VA or DOD as the sole reason for determining that the veteran did not experience such exposure.
The VA shall report to Congress every 90 days on reconsidered claims that were denied.
The VA and DOD shall jointly establish a policy for processing future claims in connection with such exposure.
The bill requires DOD, for purposes of determining whether a site should be added to the list of DOD sites where mustard gas or lewisite testing occurred, to: (1) investigate and assess sites where the Army Corps of Engineers has uncovered evidence of mustard gas or lewisite testing or where more than two veterans submitted claims in connection with exposure that were denied; and (2) report on experiments conducted by DOD during World War II to assess the effects of mustard gas and lewisite.
The VA shall: (1) investigate and assess VA actions to reach out to individuals who had been exposed in such experiments, the disability compensation claims that were filed, and the percentage of such claims that were denied; and (2) submit a comprehensive list of each location where such an experiment was conducted.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 75 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 75
To provide for the reconsideration of claims for disability
compensation for veterans who were the subjects of experiments by the
Department of Defense during World War II that were conducted to assess
the effects of mustard gas or lewisite on people, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 9, 2017
Mrs. McCaskill (for herself and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the reconsideration of claims for disability
compensation for veterans who were the subjects of experiments by the
Department of Defense during World War II that were conducted to assess
the effects of mustard gas or lewisite on people, 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 ``Arla Harrell Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) During World War II, the Government carried out a
program of testing mustard gas and lewisite exposure on members
of the Armed Forces. This program was classified and
participating members were threatened with dishonorable
discharges and imprisonment if they revealed their
participation.
(2) On July 12, 1973, a fire at the National Personnel
Records Center destroyed more than 16,000,000 official military
personnel files. The records affected more than 80 percent of
members and former members of the Army who were discharged
between November 1, 1912, and January 1, 1960. As a result, due
to no fault of their own, veterans who were subjected to
testing under the program are unable to rely on a full and
complete record of their service to produce proof that they
were subjected to such testing.
(3) The Armed Forces did not fully acknowledge its role in
the program until the last of the experiments was declassified
in 1975, 30 years after testing under the program was completed
and 2 years after the fire destroyed military records at the
National Personnel Records Center.
(4) The oath of secrecy was not effectively lifted until
1991, 46 years after the testing was completed, further
hampering the ability of veterans to provide proof that they
were subjected to the testing.
(5) The Department of Veterans Affairs is relying on
incomplete information to adjudicate claims, which often
provides conflicting data regarding veterans' mustard gas or
lewisite exposure due to recordkeeping failures outside of the
veterans' control.
(6) The Department has rejected approximately 90 percent of
claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs relating to mustard gas or lewisite exposure.
(7) Veterans who participated in the mustard gas or
lewisite testing were not afforded the same opportunity to
provide evidence of their exposure for disability compensation
and ought to be afforded unique consideration.
SEC. 3. 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
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.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-215.
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