[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1838 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1838
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the presumptions of
service-connection relating to diseases and disabilities of former
prisoners of war.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 29, 2003
Mr. Evans introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the presumptions of
service-connection relating to diseases and disabilities of former
prisoners of war.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE-CONNECTION RELATING TO DISEASES AND
DISABILITIES OF FORMER PRISONERS OF WAR.
Subsection (b) of section 1112 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(b)(1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title and subject
to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, in the case of a
veteran who is a former prisoner of war--
``(A) a disease specified in paragraph (2) shall be
considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such
service, notwithstanding that there is no record of such
disease during the period of service; and
``(B) if the veteran was detained or interned as a prisoner
of war for not less than thirty days, a disease specified in
paragraph (3) which became manifest to a degree of 10 percent
or more after active military, naval, or air service shall be
considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such
service, notwithstanding that there is no record of such
disease during the period of service.
``(2) The diseases specified in this paragraph are the following:
``(A) Psychosis.
``(B) Any of the anxiety states.
``(C) Dysthymic disorder (or depressive neurosis).
``(D) Organic residuals of frostbite, if the Secretary
determines that the veteran was interned in climatic conditions
consistent with the occurrence of frostbite.
``(E) Post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
``(3) The diseases specified in this paragraph are the following:
``(A) Avitaminosis.
``(B) Beriberi (including beriberi heart disease).
``(C) Chronic dysentery.
``(D) Helminthiasis.
``(E) Malnutrition (including optic atrophy associated with
malnutrition).
``(F) Pellagra.
``(G) Any other nutritional deficiency.
``(H) Cirrhosis of the liver.
``(I) Peripheral neuropathy except where directly related
to infectious causes.
``(J) Irritable bowel syndrome.
``(K) Peptic ulcer disease.''.
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