This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to brief Congress and report on the efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide benefits to veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, and have specified diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents (i.e., chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, or acute or subacute peripheral neuropathy).

The VA must implement recommendations from the GAO report related to the adjudication of claims for benefits for veterans with the specified diseases.

Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act of 2019

This bill expands eligibility for a presumption of service-connection for veterans exposed to certain herbicide agents (e.g., Agent Orange) during military service in Vietnam. Specifically, the bill removes the manifestation period required for the presumption of service-connection for chloracne and porphyria cutanea tarda.

Additionally, the bill provides statutory authority for a presumption of service-connection for certain cases of acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy without a manifestation period.

Under a presumption of service-connection, specific disabilities diagnosed in certain veterans are presumed to have been caused by the circumstances of their military service. Health care benefits and disability compensation may then be awarded.