S. 5696: New PACT for Iran Veterans Act

This bill would change how the Department of Veterans Affairs handles certain claims and reviews related to toxic exposure for veterans.

What it would do

• Add Iran to the VA’s list of locations where toxic exposure is presumed for veterans who served there. This means veterans who served in Iran would be treated as having been exposed to toxic hazards for purposes of VA benefits, without needing to prove the exposure case by case.
• Require more regular reviews of overseas locations where service members were stationed. The bill would direct a VA working group to review, at least once every five years, each location outside the United States where military members were assigned or stationed, and assess whether toxic exposure cases occurred there.
• Require faster reviews after new contingency operations begin. For any new contingency operation, the working group would have to start reviewing affected locations within 180 days and assess toxic exposure cases at those places.
• Speed up reporting after those reviews. The VA would have to report the results not only in its annual reports, but also within 90 days after finishing each required location review.
• Make it easier for the public to see why the VA does not create or removes a presumption. The bill would require the VA to publish its explanations on a publicly available Department website, in addition to the Federal Register.
• Require public notice when the VA removes a presumption. If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs removes a toxic-exposure presumption by regulation, the Department would have to publish a notice online explaining the reasons for the removal.

Practical effect

In simple terms, the bill would expand automatic eligibility for toxic exposure-related VA benefits to veterans who served in Iran, and it would create more frequent and faster reviews of other overseas locations where toxic exposure may have occurred. It would also require the VA to be more transparent about how and why it decides to add or remove these presumptions.

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