Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2019

Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2019

This bill requires the Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide assistance to people in Vietnam in relation to Agent Orange exposure.

Specifically, the State Department must provide assistance (1) to address the health care needs of certain residents of Vietnam affected by Agent Orange exposure, (2) to institutions in Vietnam that provide health care to such individuals, (3) to improve housing and reduce poverty for specified individuals and their families, and (4) to remediate areas of Vietnam that contain high levels of Agent Orange.

HHS must (1) make grants to public health organizations and Vietnamese-American organizations to conduct a broad health assessment of Vietnamese-Americans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange and their descendants; and (2) establish centers in U.S. locations where large populations of Vietnamese-Americans reside to provide assessment, counseling, and treatment for conditions related to Agent Orange exposure.

Under the bill, certain benefits will be made available to the children of male veterans who served in Vietnam who are affected by certain birth defects. Currently, these benefits are only available to the children of women Vietnam veterans. The VA shall require any health care provider with whom the VA enters into a contract for the provision of health care to such children to provide the VA access to their medical records for research into the intergenerational effects of Agent Orange exposure.