I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4321 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 9, 2017 Ms. Velázquez (for herself, Mr. LoBiondo , Mr. Meeks , Mr. Jeffries , Ms. Clarke of New York , Mr. Lance , Mr. Pascrell , Mr. King of New York , Mr. Smith of New Jersey , Mr. Serrano , Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York , Miss González-Colón of Puerto Rico , Mr. Pallone , Mr. Khanna , Mr. Soto , Mr. Evans , Ms. Norton , Ms. Jackson Lee , Ms. Wilson of Florida , Mrs. Radewagen , Mr. Jones , Mr. Sires , Mr. Pearce , Mr. Loebsack , Mr. Quigley , Mr. Crowley , Mr. Carson of Indiana , Mr. Engel , and Mr. McEachin ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of service-connection of disabilities relating to blast exposures with respect to disability compensation payments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Blast Exposure Protection Act of 2017 . 2. Presumption of service-connection of disabilities relating to blast exposure Section 1112 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (d) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, an injury or illness of a veteran that is associated with a blast exposure by the veteran during active military, naval, or air service shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated during such active military, naval, or air service, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such injury or illness during a period of such service. .