The Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2024 directs the federal government to provide comprehensive assistance to people affected by Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War and their descendants. From 1961 to 1971, the U.S. military sprayed approximately 19 million gallons of herbicides, including 13 million gallons of Agent Orange, over southern Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, exposing millions of Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and American people to toxic dioxin and arsenic contaminants. The bill requires the Agency for International Development, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Veterans Affairs to provide health care services, vocational training, housing assistance, poverty reduction support, and environmental remediation in affected areas. Additionally, the bill expands veterans' benefits to include children of male Vietnam veterans with certain birth defects (currently only children of female veterans are covered) and establishes health assessment and treatment centers for Vietnamese Americans affected by exposure. Federal agencies must complete implementation plans within 180 days and fully implement the provisions within 18 months, with quarterly progress reports to Congress thereafter.
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