[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 653 Introduced in House (IH)] 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 653 To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the sworn affidavit of a veteran who served in combat during the Korean War or an earlier conflict to be accepted as proof of service-connection of a disease or injury alleged to have been incurred or aggravated by such service. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 24, 2007 Mr. Reynolds (for himself and Mrs. Maloney of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow the sworn affidavit of a veteran who served in combat during the Korean War or an earlier conflict to be accepted as proof of service-connection of a disease or injury alleged to have been incurred or aggravated by such service. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Joseph I. Hoover Combat Veteran Affidavit Act of 2007''. SEC. 2. SWORN AFFIDAVIT OF KOREAN CONFLICT AND EARLIER COMBAT VETERANS TO BE ACCEPTED AS PROOF OF SERVICE-CONNECTION OF DISEASE OR INJURY ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN INCURRED OR AGGRAVATED DURING COMBAT. (a) In General.--Section 1154(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended-- (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; (2) by inserting ``after July 27, 1953,'' after ``in active service''; (3) by designating the third sentence as paragraph (3) and in that paragraph inserting ``under paragraph (1) or (2)'' after ``in each case''; and (4) by inserting after paragraph (1), as designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new paragraph: ``(2) In the case of any veteran who engaged in combat with the enemy in active service on or before July 27, 1953, with a military, naval, or air organization of the United States during a period of war, campaign, or expedition, if there is no clear and convincing evidence to the contrary the Secretary shall accept as sufficient proof of service-connection of any disease or injury alleged to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service the sworn affidavit of the veteran attesting to the service-connection of such disease or injury, notwithstanding the fact that there is no official record of such incurrence or aggravation in such service.''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to affidavits submitted after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>