S. 3023: The Arla Harrell Act

114th Congress · introduced 2016-06-06 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-707.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2016-06-06 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-707. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

The Arla Harrell Act

Plain summary

Arla Harrell Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reconsider and make a new determination regarding each claim for disability compensation in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite during active military, naval, or air service during World War II that was denied before this bill's enactment. The VA or the Department of Defense (DOD): (1) shall presume that a veteran experienced full-body exposure to mustard gas or lewisite unless proven otherwise; and (2) may not use information contained in the DOD and VA Chemical Biological Warfare Database or any list of known testing sites for mustard gas or lewisite maintained by the VA or DOD as the sole reason for determining that the veteran did not experience such exposure. The VA shall report to Congress every 90 days on reconsidered claims that were denied. The VA and DOD shall jointly establish a policy for processing future claims in connection with such exposure. The bill requires DOD, for purposes of determining whether a site should be added to the list of DOD sites where mustard gas or lewisite testing occurred, to: (1) investigate and assess sites where the Army Corps of Engineers has uncovered evidence of mustard gas or lewisite testing or where more than two veterans submitted claims in connection with exposure that were denied; and (2) report on experiments conducted by DOD during World War II to assess the effects of mustard gas and lewisite. The VA shall: (1) investigate and assess VA actions to reach out to individuals who had been exposed in such experiments, the disability compensation claims that were filed, and the percentage of such claims that were denied; and (2) submit a comprehensive list of each location where such an experiment was conducted.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

The Arla Harrell Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

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Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s3023.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s3023 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114