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.
This bill directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide comprehensive assistance to individuals affected by Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War era. The legislation covers three main groups: Vietnamese residents exposed to Agent Orange or living in contaminated areas and their descendants, Vietnamese Americans exposed to the herbicide, and the children of affected individuals. USAID would fund medical care, rehabilitation services, housing repairs, poverty reduction programs, and environmental cleanup efforts in Vietnam—with priority given to heavily sprayed military bases and contaminated hotspots. The Department of Health and Human Services would conduct health assessments of Vietnamese Americans and establish treatment centers in areas with large Vietnamese American populations. Both agencies must complete implementation plans within 180 days and fully implement the programs within 18 months, then submit quarterly progress reports to Congress. The bill recognizes ongoing health problems caused by dioxin and arsenic contamination from approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides sprayed across Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1961 to 1971.
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