[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1671 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1671
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of
service-connection under the laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs for certain diseases associated with the COVID-19
vaccine that become manifest during the one-year period following the
receipt of the vaccine, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2025
Mr. Davidson (for himself, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Massie, Mrs. Miller of
Illinois, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Weber of Texas, and Mr. Fallon) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 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 amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a presumption of
service-connection under the laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs for certain diseases associated with the COVID-19
vaccine that become manifest during the one-year period following the
receipt of the vaccine, 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 ``Justice for Vaccine Injured Veterans
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) On August 24, 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
issued a memorandum titled, ``Mandatory Coronavirus Disease
2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members''.
(2) This memorandum stated, ``I therefore direct the
Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin
full vaccination of all members of the Armed Forces under DoD
authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the
National Guard, who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-
19''.
(3) In December 2022, the Department of Defense reported
that ``98 percent of active duty service members and 96 percent
of the total force have been vaccinated'' from COVID-19.
(4) As a result of this memorandum, more than 8,400 members
of the Armed Forces were forced out of the military for
refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
(5) On January 10, 2023, Secretary Austin was forced to
rescind this memorandum as a requirement of section 525 of the
James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263).
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
actions referred to in subsection (a) that were taken by the Department
of Defense under the Biden administration caused irreparable harm to
the health and readiness of the United States Armed Forces.
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-
CONNECTION FOR CERTAIN DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19
VACCINE.
(a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 11 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1120A. Presumption of service-connection for certain diseases
associated with COVID-19 vaccine
``(a) In General.--For the purposes of section 1110 of this title,
and subject to section 1113 of this title, a disease specified in
subsection (b) becoming manifest in a member of the Armed Forces who,
during the period beginning on August 24, 2021, and ending on January
10, 2023, received a COVID-19 vaccine under orders shall be considered
to have been incurred in or aggravated during active military, naval,
air, or space service, notwithstanding that there is no record of
evidence of such disease during the period of such service.
``(b) Covered Diseases.--The diseases specified in this subsection
are the following:
``(1) Myocarditis.
``(2) Pericarditis.
``(3) Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.
``(4) Guillian-Barre Syndrome.
``(5) Any other disease for which the Secretary determines
that a presumption of service connection is warranted based on
a positive association with the COVID-19 vaccine.
``(c) Congressional Notice Requirement.--If the Secretary
determines that an additional disease should be specified pursuant to
subsection (b)(4), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on
Veterans Affairs' of the Senate and the House of Representatives notice
of such determination.
``(d) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment
of the Justice for Vaccine Injured Veterans Act of 2025, and every 60
days thereafter for the subsequent four year-period, the Secretary
shall submit to the Committees of Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and
the House of Representatives a report that contains each of the
following:
``(1) The total number of claims for compensation under
this chapter related to a disease associated with the COVID-19
vaccine.
``(2) The status of each such claim, disaggregated by--
``(A) the number of claims that were approved;
``(B) the number of claims that were denied and for
which the claimant took no further action;
``(C) the number of claims that were denied and for
which the claimant filed a supplemental claim;
``(D) the number of claims that were denied and for
which the claimant requested a higher level review; and
``(E) the number of claims that were denied and for
which the claimant filed an appeal to the Board of
Veterans' Appeals.
``(3) The total number of such claims that, as of the date
of the submission of the report, had been submitted but were
pending a decision.
``(e) Public Access to Reports.--The Secretary shall make each
report required by subsection (d) publicly available, including by
making publicly available on an appropriate website of the Department
each such report together with such additional information or comments
as the Secretary considers appropriate to provide context for the
report.
``(f) COVID-19 Vaccine Defined.--In this section, the term `COVID-
19 vaccine' means vaccine licensed under section 351 of the Public
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262) or authorized for emergency use
under section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21
U.S.C. 360bbb-3) for immunization against the virus responsible for
COVID-19.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
1120 the following new item:
``1120A. Presumption of service-connection for certain diseases
associated with COVID-19 vaccine.''.
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