| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1386 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To provide compensation to certain residents of the island of Vieques, Puerto |
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| 6 | 6 | | Rico, for the use of such island for military readiness, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MAY1, 2023 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. M |
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| 10 | 10 | | ENENDEZ(for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; |
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| 11 | 11 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To provide compensation to certain residents of the island |
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| 14 | 14 | | of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for the use of such island for |
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| 15 | 15 | | military readiness, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vieques Recovery and 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Redevelopment Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Rico, measuring approximately 21 miles long by 4 9 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 28 | 28 | | miles wide, and located approximately 8 miles east 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the main island of Puerto Rico. 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) Prior to Hurricane Maria, residents of 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Vieques were served by an urgent medical care facil-4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ity, the Susana Centeno Family Health Center, and 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | residents had to travel off-island to obtain medical 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | services, including most types of emergency care be-7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | cause the facility did not have the basic use of x-ray 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | machines, CT machines, EKG machines, 9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ultrasounds, or PET scans. 10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (3) The predominant means of transporting 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | passengers and goods between Vieques and the main 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | island of Puerto Rico is by ferry boat service, and 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | over the years, the efficiency of this service has fre-14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | quently been disrupted, unreliable, and difficult for 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | cancer patients to endure to receive treatment. Each 16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | trip to Ceiba, Puerto Rico, for the cancer patient is 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | an additional out-of-pocket expense ranging from 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | $120 to $200. 19 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (4) The United States Military maintained a 20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | presence on the eastern and western portions of 21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | Vieques for close to 60 years, and used parts of the 22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | island as a training range during those years, drop-23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | ping over 80 million tons of ordnance and other 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 55 | 55 | | weaponry available to the United States military 1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | since World War II. 2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (5) The unintended, unknown, and unavoidable 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | consequences of these exercises were to expose 4 |
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| 59 | 59 | | Americans living on the islands to the residue of 5 |
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| 60 | 60 | | that weaponry which includes heavy metals and 6 |
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| 61 | 61 | | many other chemicals now known to harm human 7 |
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| 62 | 62 | | health. 8 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (6) According to Government and independent 9 |
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| 64 | 64 | | documentation, the island of Vieques has high levels 10 |
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| 65 | 65 | | of heavy metals and has been exposed to chemical 11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | weapons and toxic chemicals. Since the military ac-12 |
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| 67 | 67 | | tivity in Vieques, island residents have suffered from 13 |
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| 68 | 68 | | the health impacts from long-term exposure to envi-14 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ronmental contamination as a result of 62 years of 15 |
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| 70 | 70 | | military operations, and have experienced higher 16 |
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| 71 | 71 | | rates of certain diseases among residents, including 17 |
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| 72 | 72 | | cancer, cirrhosis, hypertension, diabetes, heavy metal 18 |
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| 73 | 73 | | diseases, along with many unnamed and 19 |
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| 74 | 74 | | uncategorized illnesses. These toxic residues have 20 |
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| 75 | 75 | | caused the American residents of Vieques to develop 21 |
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| 76 | 76 | | illnesses due to ongoing exposure. 22 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (7) In 2017, Vieques was hit by Hurricane 23 |
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| 78 | 78 | | Maria, an unusually destructive storm that dev-24 |
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| 79 | 79 | | astated Puerto Rico and intensified the existing hu-25 |
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| 81 | 81 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 83 | 83 | | manitarian crisis on the island by destroying existing 1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | medical facilities. 2 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (8) The medical systems in place prior to Hur-3 |
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| 86 | 86 | | ricane Maria were unable to properly handle the 4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | health crisis that existed due to the toxic residue left 5 |
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| 88 | 88 | | on the island by the military’s activities. 6 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (9) After Maria, the medical facility was closed 7 |
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| 90 | 90 | | due to damage and continues to be unable to per-8 |
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| 91 | 91 | | form even the few basic services that it did provide. 9 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Vieques needs a medical facility that can treat and 10 |
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| 93 | 93 | | address the critical and urgent need to get life-sav-11 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ing medical services to its residents. Due to legal re-12 |
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| 95 | 95 | | strictions, the Federal Emergency Management 13 |
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| 96 | 96 | | Agency (in this Act referred to as ‘‘FEMA’’) is un-14 |
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| 97 | 97 | | able to provide a hospital where its capabilities ex-15 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ceed the abilities of the facility that existed prior to 16 |
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| 99 | 99 | | Maria; therefore Vieques needs assistance to build a 17 |
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| 100 | 100 | | facility to manage the vast health needs of its resi-18 |
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| 101 | 101 | | dents. 19 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (10) Every American has benefitted from the 20 |
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| 103 | 103 | | sacrifices of those Americans who have lived and are 21 |
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| 104 | 104 | | living on Vieques and it is our intent to acknowledge 22 |
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| 105 | 105 | | that sacrifice and to treat those Americans with the 23 |
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| 106 | 106 | | same respect and appreciation that other Americans 24 |
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| 107 | 107 | | enjoy. 25 |
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| 109 | 109 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 110 | 110 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 111 | 111 | | (11) In 2012, the residents of Vieques were de-1 |
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| 112 | 112 | | nied the ability to address their needs in Court due 2 |
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| 113 | 113 | | to sovereign immunity, Sanchez v. United States, 3 |
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| 114 | 114 | | No. 3:09–cv–01260–DRD (D.P.R.). However, the 4 |
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| 115 | 115 | | United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 5 |
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| 116 | 116 | | referred the issue to Congress and urged it to ad-6 |
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| 117 | 117 | | dress the humanitarian crisis. This bill attempts to 7 |
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| 118 | 118 | | satisfy that request such that Americans living on 8 |
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| 119 | 119 | | Vieques have a remedy for the suffering they have 9 |
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| 120 | 120 | | endured. 10 |
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| 121 | 121 | | SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED 11 |
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| 122 | 122 | | STATES FOR CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF THE IS-12 |
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| 123 | 123 | | LAND OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO. 13 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (a) I |
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| 125 | 125 | | NGENERAL.—An individual claimant who has 14 |
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| 126 | 126 | | resided on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for not less 15 |
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| 127 | 127 | | than 5 years before the date of enactment of this Act and 16 |
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| 128 | 128 | | files a claim for compensation under this section with the 17 |
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| 129 | 129 | | Special Master, appointed pursuant to subsection (c), shall 18 |
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| 130 | 130 | | be awarded monetary compensation as described in sub-19 |
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| 131 | 131 | | section (b) if— 20 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (1) the Special Master determines that the 21 |
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| 133 | 133 | | claimant is or was a resident or an immediate heir 22 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (as determined by the laws of Puerto Rico) of a de-23 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ceased claimant on the island of Vieques, Puerto 24 |
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| 136 | 136 | | Rico, during or after the United States Government 25 |
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| 138 | 138 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 139 | 139 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 140 | 140 | | used the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for military 1 |
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| 141 | 141 | | readiness; 2 |
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| 142 | 142 | | (2) the claimant previously filed a lawsuit or an 3 |
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| 143 | 143 | | administrative claim, or files a claim not later than 4 |
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| 144 | 144 | | 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act 5 |
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| 145 | 145 | | against the United States Government for personal 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | injury, including illness or death arising from use by 7 |
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| 147 | 147 | | the United States Government of the island of 8 |
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| 148 | 148 | | Vieques for military readiness; and 9 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (3) the claimant submits to the Special Master 10 |
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| 150 | 150 | | written medical documentation that indicates that it 11 |
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| 151 | 151 | | is more likely than not the claimant contracted a 12 |
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| 152 | 152 | | chronic, life-threatening, or physical disease or ill-13 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ness limited to cancer, hypertension, cirrhosis, kid-14 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ney disease, diabetes, or a heavy metal poisoning as 15 |
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| 155 | 155 | | a result the United States Government used the is-16 |
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| 156 | 156 | | land of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for military readiness. 17 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (b) A |
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| 158 | 158 | | MOUNTS OFAWARD.— 18 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (1) I |
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| 160 | 160 | | N GENERAL.—A claimant who meets the 19 |
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| 161 | 161 | | requirements of subsection (a) shall be awarded 20 |
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| 162 | 162 | | compensation as follows: 21 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (A) $50,000 for 1 disease described in sub-22 |
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| 164 | 164 | | section (a)(3). 23 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (B) $80,000 for 2 diseases described in 24 |
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| 166 | 166 | | subsection (a)(3). 25 |
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| 168 | 168 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 |
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| 169 | 169 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 170 | 170 | | (C) $110,000 for 3 or more diseases de-1 |
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| 171 | 171 | | scribed in subsection (a)(3). 2 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (2) I |
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| 173 | 173 | | NCREASE IN AWARD .—In the case that an 3 |
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| 174 | 174 | | individual receiving an award under paragraph (1) 4 |
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| 175 | 175 | | of this subsection contracts another disease under 5 |
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| 176 | 176 | | subsection (a)(3) and files a new claim with the Spe-6 |
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| 177 | 177 | | cial Master for an additional award not later than 7 |
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| 178 | 178 | | 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 8 |
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| 179 | 179 | | the Special Master may award the individual an 9 |
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| 180 | 180 | | amount that is equal to the difference between— 10 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (A) the amount that the individual would 11 |
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| 182 | 182 | | have been eligible to receive had the disease 12 |
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| 183 | 183 | | been contracted before the individual filed an 13 |
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| 184 | 184 | | initial claim under subsection (a); and 14 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (B) the amount received by the individual 15 |
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| 186 | 186 | | pursuant to paragraph (1). 16 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (3) D |
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| 188 | 188 | | ECEASED CLAIMANTS .—In the case of an 17 |
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| 189 | 189 | | individual who dies before making a claim under this 18 |
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| 190 | 190 | | section or a claimant who dies before receiving an 19 |
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| 191 | 191 | | award under this section, any immediate heir to the 20 |
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| 192 | 192 | | individual or claimant, as determined by the laws of 21 |
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| 193 | 193 | | Puerto Rico, shall be eligible for one of the following 22 |
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| 194 | 194 | | awards: 23 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (A) Compensation in accordance with 24 |
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| 196 | 196 | | paragraph (1), divided among any such heir. 25 |
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| 198 | 198 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 |
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| 199 | 199 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 200 | 200 | | (B) Compensation based on the age of the 1 |
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| 201 | 201 | | deceased if the claimant shows that it is more 2 |
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| 202 | 202 | | likely than not that the United States Military 3 |
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| 203 | 203 | | activity caused the death of the individual as 4 |
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| 204 | 204 | | follows: 5 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (i) In the case of an individual or 6 |
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| 206 | 206 | | claimant who dies before attaining 20 7 |
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| 207 | 207 | | years of age, $110,000, divided among any 8 |
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| 208 | 208 | | such heir. 9 |
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| 209 | 209 | | (ii) In the case of an individual or 10 |
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| 210 | 210 | | claimant who dies before attaining 40 11 |
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| 211 | 211 | | years of age, $80,000, divided among any 12 |
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| 212 | 212 | | such heir. 13 |
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| 213 | 213 | | (iii) In the case of an individual or 14 |
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| 214 | 214 | | claimant who dies before attaining 60 15 |
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| 215 | 215 | | years of age, $50,000, divided among any 16 |
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| 216 | 216 | | such heir. 17 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (c) A |
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| 218 | 218 | | PPOINTMENT OFSPECIALMASTER.— 18 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (1) I |
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| 220 | 220 | | N GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 19 |
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| 221 | 221 | | appoint a Special Master not later than 90 days 20 |
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| 222 | 222 | | after the date of the enactment of this Act to con-21 |
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| 223 | 223 | | sider claims by individuals and the municipality. 22 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (2) Q |
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| 225 | 225 | | UALIFICATIONS.—The Attorney General 23 |
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| 226 | 226 | | shall consider the following in choosing the Special 24 |
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| 227 | 227 | | Master: 25 |
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| 229 | 229 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 |
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| 230 | 230 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 231 | 231 | | (A) The individual’s experience in the proc-1 |
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| 232 | 232 | | essing of victims’ claims in relation to foreign 2 |
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| 233 | 233 | | or domestic governments. 3 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (B) The individual’s balance of experience 4 |
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| 235 | 235 | | in representing the interests of the United 5 |
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| 236 | 236 | | States and individual claimants. 6 |
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| 237 | 237 | | (C) The individual’s experience in matters 7 |
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| 238 | 238 | | of national security. 8 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (D) The individual’s demonstrated abilities 9 |
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| 240 | 240 | | in investigation and fact findings in complex 10 |
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| 241 | 241 | | factual matters. 11 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (E) Any experience the individual has had 12 |
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| 243 | 243 | | advising the United States Government. 13 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (d) A |
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| 245 | 245 | | WARDAMOUNTSRELATED TOCLAIMS BY THE 14 |
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| 246 | 246 | | M |
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| 247 | 247 | | UNICIPALITY OFVIEQUES.— 15 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (1) A |
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| 249 | 249 | | WARD.—The Special Master, in exchange 16 |
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| 250 | 250 | | for its administrative claims, shall provide the fol-17 |
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| 251 | 251 | | lowing as compensation to the Municipality of 18 |
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| 252 | 252 | | Vieques: 19 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (A) S |
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| 254 | 254 | | TAFF.—The Special Master shall pro-20 |
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| 255 | 255 | | vide medical staff, and other resources nec-21 |
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| 256 | 256 | | essary to build and operate a level three trauma 22 |
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| 257 | 257 | | center (in this section, referred to as ‘‘medical 23 |
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| 258 | 258 | | facility’’) with a cancer center and renal dialysis 24 |
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| 259 | 259 | | unit and its equipment. The medical facility 25 |
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| 261 | 261 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 |
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| 262 | 262 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 263 | 263 | | shall be able to treat life-threatening, chronic, 1 |
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| 264 | 264 | | heavy metal, and physical and mental diseases. 2 |
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| 265 | 265 | | The medical facility shall be able to provide 3 |
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| 266 | 266 | | basic x-ray, EKG, internal medicine expertise, 4 |
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| 267 | 267 | | medical coordination personnel and case man-5 |
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| 268 | 268 | | agers, ultrasound, and resources necessary to 6 |
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| 269 | 269 | | screen claimants described in subsection (a) 7 |
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| 270 | 270 | | who are receiving treatment for the diseases or 8 |
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| 271 | 271 | | illnesses described in paragraph (3) of that sub-9 |
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| 272 | 272 | | section for cancer and the other prevailing 10 |
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| 273 | 273 | | health problems. 11 |
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| 274 | 274 | | (B) O |
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| 275 | 275 | | PERATIONS.—The Special Master 12 |
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| 276 | 276 | | shall fund the operations of the medical facility 13 |
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| 277 | 277 | | to provide medical care for pediatric and adult 14 |
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| 278 | 278 | | patients who reside on the island of Vieques, al-15 |
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| 279 | 279 | | lowing the patients to be referred for tertiary 16 |
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| 280 | 280 | | and quaternary health care facilities when nec-17 |
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| 281 | 281 | | essary, and providing the transportation and 18 |
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| 282 | 282 | | medical costs when traveling off the island of 19 |
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| 283 | 283 | | Vieques. 20 |
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| 284 | 284 | | (C) I |
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| 285 | 285 | | NTERIM SERVICES.—Before the med-21 |
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| 286 | 286 | | ical facility on the island of Vieques is oper-22 |
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| 287 | 287 | | ational, the Special Master shall provide to 23 |
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| 288 | 288 | | claimants described in subsection (a) who are 24 |
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| 290 | 290 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 |
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| 291 | 291 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 292 | 292 | | receiving treatment for the diseases or illnesses 1 |
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| 293 | 293 | | described in paragraph (3) of that subsection— 2 |
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| 294 | 294 | | (i) urgent health care air transport to 3 |
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| 295 | 295 | | hospitals on the mainland of Puerto Rico 4 |
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| 296 | 296 | | from the island of Vieques; 5 |
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| 297 | 297 | | (ii) medical coordination personnel 6 |
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| 298 | 298 | | and case managers; 7 |
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| 299 | 299 | | (iii) telemedicine communication abili-8 |
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| 300 | 300 | | ties; and 9 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (iv) any other services that are nec-10 |
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| 302 | 302 | | essary to alleviate the health crisis on the 11 |
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| 303 | 303 | | island of Vieques. 12 |
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| 304 | 304 | | (D) S |
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| 305 | 305 | | CREENING.—The Special Master 13 |
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| 306 | 306 | | shall make available, at no cost to the patient, 14 |
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| 307 | 307 | | medical screening for cancer, cirrhosis, diabetes, 15 |
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| 308 | 308 | | and heavy metal contamination on the island of 16 |
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| 309 | 309 | | Vieques. 17 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (E) A |
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| 311 | 311 | | CADEMIC PARTNER .—The Special 18 |
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| 312 | 312 | | Master shall appoint an academic partner, with 19 |
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| 313 | 313 | | appropriate experience and an established rela-20 |
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| 314 | 314 | | tionship with the Municipality of Vieques, that 21 |
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| 315 | 315 | | shall— 22 |
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| 316 | 316 | | (i) lead a research and outreach en-23 |
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| 317 | 317 | | deavor on behalf of the Municipality of 24 |
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| 318 | 318 | | Vieques; 25 |
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| 320 | 320 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 |
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| 321 | 321 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 322 | 322 | | (ii) select the appropriate scientific ex-1 |
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| 323 | 323 | | pertise and administer defined studies, 2 |
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| 324 | 324 | | conducting testing and evaluation of the 3 |
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| 325 | 325 | | soils, seas, plant and animal food sources, 4 |
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| 326 | 326 | | and the health of residents; and 5 |
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| 327 | 327 | | (iii) determine and implement the 6 |
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| 328 | 328 | | most efficient and effective way to reduce 7 |
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| 329 | 329 | | the environmental toxins to a level suffi-8 |
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| 330 | 330 | | cient to return the soils, seas, food sources, 9 |
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| 331 | 331 | | and health circumstances to a level that re-10 |
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| 332 | 332 | | duces the diseases on the island of Vieques 11 |
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| 333 | 333 | | to the average in the United States. 12 |
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| 334 | 334 | | (F) D |
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| 335 | 335 | | UTIES.—The Special Master shall 13 |
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| 336 | 336 | | provide amounts necessary for the academic 14 |
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| 337 | 337 | | partner and medical coordinator to carry out 15 |
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| 338 | 338 | | the duties described in subparagraphs (A) 16 |
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| 339 | 339 | | through (D). 17 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (G) P |
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| 341 | 341 | | ROCUREMENT.—The Special Master 18 |
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| 342 | 342 | | shall provide amounts necessary to compensate 19 |
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| 343 | 343 | | the Municipality of Vieques for— 20 |
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| 344 | 344 | | (i) contractual procurement obliga-21 |
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| 345 | 345 | | tions and additional expenses incurred by 22 |
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| 346 | 346 | | the municipality as a result of the enact-23 |
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| 347 | 347 | | ment of this section and settlement of its 24 |
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| 348 | 348 | | claim; and 25 |
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| 350 | 350 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 |
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| 351 | 351 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 352 | 352 | | (ii) any other damages and costs to be 1 |
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| 353 | 353 | | incurred by the municipality, if the Special 2 |
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| 354 | 354 | | Master determines that it is necessary to 3 |
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| 355 | 355 | | carry out the purpose of this section. 4 |
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| 356 | 356 | | (H) P |
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| 357 | 357 | | OWER SOURCE.—The Special Master 5 |
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| 358 | 358 | | shall determine the best source of producing 6 |
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| 359 | 359 | | independent power on the island of Vieques that 7 |
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| 360 | 360 | | is hurricane resilient and can effectively sustain 8 |
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| 361 | 361 | | the needs of the island and shall authorize such 9 |
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| 362 | 362 | | construction as an award to the Municipality of 10 |
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| 363 | 363 | | Vieques. 11 |
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| 364 | 364 | | (2) S |
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| 365 | 365 | | OURCE.— 12 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (A) I |
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| 367 | 367 | | N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 13 |
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| 368 | 368 | | subparagraph (B), amounts awarded under this 14 |
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| 369 | 369 | | Act shall be made from amounts appropriated 15 |
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| 370 | 370 | | under section 1304 of title 31, United States 16 |
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| 371 | 371 | | Code, commonly known as the ‘‘Judgment 17 |
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| 372 | 372 | | Fund’’, as if claims were adjudicated by a 18 |
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| 373 | 373 | | United States District Court under section 19 |
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| 374 | 374 | | 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code. 20 |
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| 375 | 375 | | (B) L |
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| 376 | 376 | | IMITATION.—Total amounts awarded 21 |
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| 377 | 377 | | under this Act shall not exceed $1,000,000,000. 22 |
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| 378 | 378 | | (3) D |
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| 379 | 379 | | ETERMINATION AND PAYMENT OF 23 |
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| 380 | 380 | | CLAIMS.— 24 |
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| 382 | 382 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 14 |
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| 383 | 383 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 384 | 384 | | (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF FILING PROCE -1 |
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| 385 | 385 | | DURES.—The Attorney General shall establish 2 |
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| 386 | 386 | | procedures whereby individuals and the munici-3 |
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| 387 | 387 | | pality may submit claims for payments under 4 |
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| 388 | 388 | | this section to the Special Master. 5 |
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| 389 | 389 | | (B) D |
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| 390 | 390 | | ETERMINATION OF CLAIMS .—The 6 |
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| 391 | 391 | | Special Master shall, in accordance with this 7 |
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| 392 | 392 | | subsection, determine whether each claim meets 8 |
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| 393 | 393 | | the requirements of this section. Claims filed by 9 |
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| 394 | 394 | | residents of the island of Vieques that have 10 |
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| 395 | 395 | | been disposed of by a court under chapter 171 11 |
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| 396 | 396 | | of title 28, United States Code, shall be treated 12 |
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| 397 | 397 | | as if such claims are currently filed. 13 |
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| 398 | 398 | | (e) A |
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| 399 | 399 | | CTION ONCLAIMS.—The Special Master shall 14 |
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| 400 | 400 | | make a determination on any claim filed under the proce-15 |
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| 401 | 401 | | dures established under this section not later than 150 16 |
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| 402 | 402 | | days after the date on which the claim is filed. 17 |
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| 403 | 403 | | (f) P |
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| 404 | 404 | | AYMENT INFULLSETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS BY 18 |
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| 405 | 405 | | I |
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| 406 | 406 | | NDIVIDUALS AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF VIEQUES 19 |
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| 407 | 407 | | A |
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| 408 | 408 | | GAINST THEUNITEDSTATES.—The acceptance by an 20 |
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| 409 | 409 | | individual or the Municipality of Vieques of a payment of 21 |
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| 410 | 410 | | an award under this section shall— 22 |
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| 411 | 411 | | (1) be final and conclusive; 23 |
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| 413 | 413 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 15 |
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| 414 | 414 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 415 | 415 | | (2) be deemed to be in full satisfaction of all 1 |
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| 416 | 416 | | claims under chapter 171 of title 28, United States 2 |
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| 417 | 417 | | Code; and 3 |
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| 418 | 418 | | (3) constitute a complete release by the indi-4 |
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| 419 | 419 | | vidual or municipality of such claim against the 5 |
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| 420 | 420 | | United States and against any employee of the 6 |
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| 421 | 421 | | United States acting in the scope of employment 7 |
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| 422 | 422 | | who is involved in the matter giving rise to the 8 |
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| 423 | 423 | | claim. 9 |
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| 424 | 424 | | (g) C |
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| 425 | 425 | | ERTIFICATION OFTREATMENT OF PAYMENTS 10 |
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| 426 | 426 | | U |
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| 427 | 427 | | NDEROTHERLAWS.—Amounts paid to an individual 11 |
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| 428 | 428 | | under this section— 12 |
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| 429 | 429 | | (1) shall be treated for purposes of the laws of 13 |
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| 430 | 430 | | the United States as damages for human suffering; 14 |
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| 431 | 431 | | and 15 |
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| 432 | 432 | | (2) may not be included as income or resources 16 |
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| 433 | 433 | | for purposes of determining eligibility to receive ben-17 |
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| 434 | 434 | | efits described in section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31, 18 |
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| 435 | 435 | | United States Code, or the amount of such benefits. 19 |
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| 436 | 436 | | (h) L |
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| 437 | 437 | | IMITATION ONCLAIMS.—A claim to which this 20 |
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| 438 | 438 | | section applies shall be barred unless the claim is filed 21 |
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| 439 | 439 | | within 15 years after the date of the enactment of this 22 |
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| 440 | 440 | | Act. 23 |
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| 441 | 441 | | (i) A |
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| 442 | 442 | | TTORNEY’SFEES.—Notwithstanding any con-24 |
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| 443 | 443 | | tract, a representative of an individual may not receive, 25 |
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| 445 | 445 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 16 |
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| 446 | 446 | | •S 1386 IS |
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| 447 | 447 | | for services rendered in connection with a claim of the in-1 |
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| 448 | 448 | | dividual under this Act, more than 20 percent of a pay-2 |
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| 449 | 449 | | ment made under this Act. 3 |
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| 450 | 450 | | Æ |
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| 452 | 452 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
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