119-hr3051

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3051 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3051

 To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
 International Development, or its successor, and the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to provide assistance for individuals 
 affected by exposure to Agent Orange, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 28, 2025

 Ms. Tlaib (for herself, Ms. Simon, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. 
 Carson, and Ms. McBride) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
 International Development, or its successor, and the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services to provide assistance for individuals 
 affected by exposure to Agent Orange, 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 ``Victims of Agent Orange Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress makes the following findings:

    (1) From 1961 to 1971, approximately 19,000,000 gallons of 
 15 different herbicides were sprayed over the southern region 
 of Vietnam by the United States military.

    (2) The herbicides included 13,000,000 gallons of Agent 
 Orange, 4,500,000 gallons of Agent White, 1,000,000 gallons of 
 Agent Blue, 420,000 gallons of Agent Purple, and relatively 
 smaller quantities of the other herbicides. Many of the 
 herbicides, including Agents Orange, Purple, Green, Pink, 
 Dinoxol, and Trinoxol, contained the toxic contaminant dioxin

    (TCDD) . Agent Blue contained high levels of arsenic. The 15 
 herbicides, including the contaminant dioxin, are usually 
 collectively referred to as Agent Orange.

    (3) Between 1961 and 1971, nearly 20,000 spraying missions 
 were carried out in an area of about 12,600,000 hectares. This 
 represented about 12 percent of South Vietnam and portions of 
 Laos and Cambodia. These amounts only account for the United 
 States Air Force Operation Ranch Hand spraying and do not 
 include the widespread use of Agent Orange by the Army Chemical 
 Corps, Central Intelligence Agency, and South Vietnamese 
 Government.

    (4) Studies have found that between 2,100,000 and 4,800,000 
 Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian people and tens of thousands of 
 Americans were exposed to Agent Orange during the spraying 
 operations. Many other Vietnamese people were or continue to be 
 exposed to Agent Orange through contact with the environment 
 and food that was contaminated. Many offspring of those who 
 were exposed have birth defects, developmental disabilities, 
 and other diseases.

    (5) Today, there are still dozens of herbicide hotspots 
 that continue to contaminate the food, soil, sediment, 
 livestock, and wildlife with Agent Orange. Concentrations of 
 TCDD as high as 1,000 mg/kg have been found in soil and 
 sediment samples more than 50 years after Agent Orange was 
 sprayed in Vietnam.

    (6) Since 2007, the United States has provided assistance 
 to Vietnam in remediating Agent Orange contamination at the 
 largest of these hotspots, which are the airbases that handled 
 the spray missions. The contamination at the Da Nang Airport 
 has been fully cleaned up, and the United States has committed 
 funds to contribute to cleaning up the Bien Hoa Airbase, which 
 has the most wide-spread herbicide contamination in Vietnam. 
 There are at least two dozen other smaller hotspots scattered 
 throughout southern and central Vietnam that also must be 
 remediated, since they continue to expose local populations to 
 dioxin and arsenic.

    (7) Agent Orange exposure continues to negatively affect 
 the lives of veterans of the United States Armed Forces, 
 Vietnamese people, Vietnamese Americans, and their children. 
 The lives of many victims are cut short, and others live with 
 disease, disabilities, and pain, which are often untreated or 
 unrecognized.

    (8) The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes 19 
 illnesses and diseases, including AL amyloidosis, bladder 
 cancer, chronic B- cell leukemia, chloracne, diabetes mellitus 
 type 2, high blood pressure

    (hypertension) , Hodgkin's disease, 
 hypothyroidism, ischemic heart disease, monoclonal gammopathy 
 of undetermined significance

    (MGUS) , multiple myeloma, non-
 Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, Parkinsonism, acute 
 and sub-acute peripheral neuropathy, porphyria cutanea tarda, 
 prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, and soft-tissue sarcomas 
 associated with the spraying and use of Agent Orange by the 
 United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam era.

    (9) No similar recognition has been given to affected 
 Vietnamese or Vietnamese Americans.

    (10) The Department of Veterans Affairs provides 
 compensation for many severe birth defects among the children 
 of United States women veterans who served in Vietnam. The list 
 of birth defects covered includes, but is not limited to, 
 achondroplasia, cleft lip, cleft palate, congenital heart 
 disease, congenital talipes equinovarus

    (clubfoot) , esophageal 
 and intestinal atresia, Hallerman-Streiff syndrome, hip 
 dysplasia, Hirschsprung's disease (congenital megacolon), 
 hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis, hypospadias, 
 imperforate anus, neural tube defects, Poland syndrome, pyloric 
 stenosis, syndactyly (fused digits), tracheoesophageal fistula, 
 undescended testes, and Williams syndrome. Affected children of 
 these women veterans receive medical care and other benefits. 
 However, the care and compensation provided by the Department 
 of Veterans Affairs to the covered children of United States 
 veterans is insufficient to meet their needs related to Agent 
 Orange.

    (11) The only birth defect recognized for the children of 
 male American veterans is spina bifida (but not occulta). 
 However, many children of male Vietnam war veterans have the 
 same range of birth defects and diseases as seen in the 
 children of female Vietnam war veterans. This discrepancy 
 results in most Agent Orange affected children of United States 
 veterans receiving no care or benefits.

    (12) No assistance has been given to the children of male 
 or female Vietnamese or Vietnamese Americans connected with 
 their exposure, or their parents' or grandparents' exposure.

    (13) The Institute of Medicine for the past several years 
 has noted that ``it is considerably more plausible than 
 previously believed that exposure to the herbicides sprayed in 
 Vietnam might have caused paternally mediated transgenerational 
 effects attributable to the TCCD contaminant in Agent Orange''. 
 In recent years, scientific studies have identified likely 
 epigenetic links between exposure to toxins and birth defects 
 and developmental disorders in subsequent generations. Some of 
 the children and grandchildren of exposed persons (Americans, 
 Vietnamese, and Vietnamese Americans) who were in southern 
 Vietnam during the Vietnam war era likely suffer from 
 disorders, birth defects, and illnesses related to Agent 
 Orange.

    (14) The assistance that the United States has provided for 
 environmental remediation of contamination at the Da Nang and 
 Bien Hoa airports has, in recent years, included funds for 
 public health and disabilities activities for individuals 
 residing in some affected areas.

    (15) Laos and Cambodia were also sprayed with Agent Orange 
 during the Vietnam war era. At least 527,000 gallons of Agent 
 Orange were sprayed in Laos and significant amounts were also 
 sprayed in Cambodia. Affected Lao and Cambodian people over 
 several generations suffer from medical conditions, birth 
 defects, and disabilities similar to those seen in Vietnam and 
 the United States. The United States has the responsibility to 
 take action to mitigate and provide compensation for those 
 effects. Further action will be needed to ascertain and 
 effectively address this legacy of the Vietnam war.

    (b) 

=== Purpose ===
-It is the purpose of this Act to address and 
remediate the ongoing damage that arose or will continue to arise from 
the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO 
 EXPOSURE TO AGENT ORANGE.

    (a) For Covered Individuals.--The Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development, or its successor, in 
coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies and 
nongovernmental organizations, shall provide assistance to address the 
health care needs of covered individuals. Such assistance may include 
the provision of medical and chronic care services, nursing services, 
vocational employment training, and medical equipment.

    (b) For Caregivers.--The Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development, or its successor, in coordination with 
the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies and nongovernmental 
organizations, shall provide assistance to institutions in Vietnam that 
provide health care for covered individuals. Such assistance may 
include--

    (1) medicines and medical equipment;

    (2) custodial care, home care, respite care, and daycare 
 programs;

    (3) training programs for caregivers;

    (4) medical and physical rehabilitation, and counseling 
 services and equipment for illnesses and deformities associated 
 with exposure to Agent Orange; and

    (5) reconstructive surgical programs.
            (c) For Housing and Poverty Reduction.--The Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development, or its successor, 
in coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies 
and nongovernmental organizations shall provide--

    (1) assistance to institutions in Vietnam that repair and 
 rebuild substandard homes in Vietnam for covered individuals 
 and the families of covered individuals; and

    (2) micro grants and loans to facilitate subsistence 
 payments and poverty reduction for covered individuals and 
 families of covered individuals.
            (d) For Environmental Remediation.--

    (1) In general.--The Administrator of the United States 
 Agency for International Development, or its successor, in 
 coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal 
 agencies and nongovernmental organizations shall provide 
 assistance to remediate those geographic areas of Vietnam that 
 the Secretary determines contain high levels of Agent Orange.

    (2) Priority.--In providing assistance under this 
 subsection, the Administrator shall give priority to heavily 
 sprayed areas, including areas that served as military bases 
 where Agent Orange was handled, and areas where heavy spraying, 
 spills, or air crashes resulted in harmful deposits of Agent 
 Orange.

    (e) Administrative Authorities.--The Administrator shall--

    (1) provide assistance under this section (other than 
 assistance under subsection
            (d) ) through appropriate Vietnamese 
 community and nongovernmental organizations and Vietnamese 
 public agencies;

    (2) provide assistance under this section to affected 
 persons in all areas of Vietnam, including rural, mountainous, 
 and urban areas; and

    (3) seek out and actively encourage other bilateral donors 
 as well as United States and foreign business enterprises in 
 Vietnam to support the goals of this section through 
 development assistance and corporate philanthropy programs.

    (f) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term 
``covered individual'' means an individual who--

    (1) is a resident of Vietnam; and

    (2)
        (A) is affected by health issues related to exposure to 
 Agent Orange which took place during the period beginning on 
 January 1, 1961, and ending on May 7, 1975, or who lives or has 
 lived in or near those geographic areas in Vietnam that 
 continue to contain high levels of Agent Orange as described in 
 subsection
            (d) ; or
        (B) is the child or descendant of an individual described 
 in subparagraph
        (A) , and is affected by health issues described 
 in subparagraph
        (A) .

SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND 
 ASSISTANCE FOR VIETNAMESE AMERICANS.

    (a) Health Assessment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall make grants to appropriate public health organizations and 
Vietnamese American organizations for the purpose of conducting a broad 
health assessment of Vietnamese Americans who may have been exposed to 
Agent Orange and their children or descendants to determine the effects 
to their health of such exposure.

    (b) Assistance.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
establish centers in locations in the United States where large 
populations of Vietnamese Americans reside for the purpose of providing 
assessment, counseling, and treatment for conditions related to 
exposure to Agent Orange. The Secretary may carry out this subsection 
through appropriate community and nongovernmental organizations or 
other suitable organizations, as determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 5. DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, or its successor, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall each complete a plan for the implementation of the 
provisions of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, that are 
applicable to such Secretary and shall issue a request for proposals, 
if applicable. The Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, or its successor, and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall each implement the applicable 
provisions of this Act by not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. QUARTERLY REPORTS.

 Not later than 30 days after the last day of each fiscal quarter 
beginning on or after 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, or its successor, and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall each submit to Congress a report on the implementation 
of the provisions of this Act applicable to such Secretary during the 
immediately preceding fiscal quarter.

SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

 For purposes of this Act, the term ``Agent Orange'' includes any 
chemical compound which became part, either by design or through 
impurities, of an herbicide agent used in support of the United States 
and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam.
 <all>