Agent Orange Act of 1991 establishes provisions for the National Academy of Sciences to analyze and summarize scientific evidence regarding presumptive military service exposure to defoliants, dioxins, and herbicides, better known as Agent Orange, during the Vietnam War era. The United States Statute endorses an observation of human medical conditions directly related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, chloracne, and consistent acneform diseases for military personnel who served in the overseas Vietnamese region. The Act of Congress ratifies a medical research compilation of voluntarily contributed blood and tissue samples provided by Vietnam-era veterans serving in Southeast Asia between 1961 and 1975.
Long title | An Act to provide for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to obtain independent scientific review of the available scientific evidence regarding associations between diseases and exposure to dioxin and other chemical compounds in herbicides, and for other purposes. |
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Acronyms (colloquial) | AOA |
Nicknames | Agent Orange bill |
Enacted by | the 102nd United States Congress |
Effective | February 6, 1991 |
Citations | |
Public law | 102-4 |
Statutes at Large | 105 Stat. 11 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 38 U.S.C.: Veterans' Benefits |
U.S.C. sections created | 38 U.S.C. § 1116 |
U.S.C. sections amended | |
Legislative history | |
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The H.R. 556 legislation was passed by the 102nd United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush on February 6, 1991.[1][2]
On March 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued Proclamation 4647 acknowledging the Memorial Day week of May 28 through June 3, 1979 as Vietnam Veterans Week, 1979.[3][4]
Agent Orange Study of 1979
On December 6, 1979, the 96th United States Congress passed H.R. 3892, better known as Veterans Health Programs Extension and Improvement Act of 1979.[5] The Title 38 amendment, better known as Title III: Veterans' Administration Medical Personnel Amendments and Miscellaneous Provisions, was enacted into law by the 39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter on December 20, 1979. House Bill 3892 endorsed the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct an epidemiological study concerning human exposure and the adverse health effects of dioxins and phenoxy herbicides.[6] The persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances protocol was subject to approval by the Office of Technology Assessment as stated in the provisions of the H.R. 3892 legislation.[7]
The 96th United States Senate passed bill S. 2096 sanctioning the Agent Orange study to be conducted by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.[8] On January 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter vetoed the Senate bill due to the repetitive purpose of the Section 307a1 provisions as stated in House bill 3892.[9]
Chemistry of Defoliants and Herbicides
2,4-D | Naphthenic acid |
2,4,5-T | Palmitic acid |
Cacodylic acid | PCDD |
Dioxin | Picloram |
Diquat | TCDD |
U.S. Congressional amendments to Title 38 regarding veterans' military benefits as related to the adverse effects of Agent Orange and exposure to dioxins.
U.S. Statutes Related to Veterans' Military Benefits
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Publications regarding Agent Orange Exposure
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