Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1811 - Atomic Veterans Compensation Act of 1987

(House)
(Rowland (D) Georgia and 66 others)

The Administration continues to oppose enactment of H.R. 1811. If H.R. 1811 were to reach the President's desk, his senior advisers would recommend a veto of the bill.

Although the current version of the bill, as recently passed by the Senate, reduces the costs somewhat from the version considered earlier by the House, this does not address the Administration's primary objection to H.R. 1811. The fundamental problem with this legislation is that it would establish broad presumptions of service connection for disability compensation purposes for certain radiation-induced diseases without scientific and medical justification.

Under existing law, veterans with such diseases are already entitled to compensation benefits when service connection is specifically determined, based on sound scientific and medical evidence. Approving the type of blanket presumptions in H.R. 1811 would undermine the integrity of the entire VA compensation system.

The Veterans Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards has concluded that H.R. 1811 does not have a scientific basis, and does not allow for scientific analysis.