Text of Senate Amendment 6395

Quick facts

Record: Senate Floor
Section type: Amendments
Chamber: Senate
Date: June 24, 2026
Congress: 119th Congress
Why this source matters: This section came from the Senate floor portion of the record.

Readable version of the official text

SA 6395. Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 01. VIEQUEST RECOVERY AND REDEVELOPMENT ACT.

(a) Short Title.—This section may be cited as the

“Vieques Recovery and Redevelopment Act”.

(b) Findings.—The Congress finds the following:

(1) Vieques is an island municipality of Puerto Rico,

measuring approximately 21 miles long by 4 miles wide, and

located approximately 8 miles east of the main island of

Puerto Rico.

(2) Prior to Hurricane Maria, residents of Vieques were

served by an urgent medical care facility, the Susana Centeno

Family Health Center, and residents had to travel off-island

to obtain medical services, including most types of emergency

care because the facility did not have the basic use of x-ray

machines, CT machines, EKG machines, ultrasounds, or PET

scans.

(3) The predominant means of transporting passengers and

goods between Vieques and the main island of Puerto Rico is

by ferry boat service, and over the years, the efficiency of

this service has frequently been disrupted, unreliable, and

difficult for cancer patients to endure to receive treatment.

Each trip to Ceiba, Puerto Rico, for the cancer patient is an

additional out-of-pocket expense ranging from $120 to $200.

(4) The United States Military maintained a presence on the

eastern and western portions of Vieques for close to 60

years, and used parts of the island as a training range

during those years, dropping over 80 million tons of ordnance

and other weaponry available to the United States military

since World War II.

(5) The unintended, unknown, and unavoidable consequences

of these exercises were to expose Americans living on the

islands to the residue of that weaponry which includes heavy

metals and many other chemicals now known to harm human

health.

(6) According to Government and independent documentation,

the island of Vieques has high levels of heavy metals and has

been exposed to chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. Since

the military activity in Vieques, island residents have

suffered from the health impacts from long-term exposure to

environmental contamination as a result of 62 years of

military operations, and have experienced higher rates of

certain diseases among residents, including cancer,

cirrhosis, hypertension, diabetes, heavy metal diseases,

along with many unnamed and uncategorized illnesses. These

toxic residues have caused the American residents of Vieques

to develop illnesses due to ongoing exposure.

(7) In 2017, Vieques was hit by Hurricane Maria, an

unusually destructive storm that devastated Puerto Rico and

intensified the existing humanitarian crisis on the island by

destroying existing medical facilities.

(8) The medical systems in place prior to Hurricane Maria

were unable to properly handle the health crisis that existed

due to the toxic residue left on the island by the military's

activities.

(9) After Maria, the medical facility was closed due to

damage and continues to be unable to perform even the few

basic services that it did provide. Vieques needs a medical

facility that can treat and address the critical and urgent

need to get life-saving medical services to its residents.

Due to legal restrictions, the Federal Emergency Management

Agency (in this section referred to as “FEMA”) is unable to

provide a hospital where its capabilities exceed the

abilities of the facility that existed prior to Maria;

therefore Vieques needs assistance to build a facility to

manage the vast health needs of its residents.

(10) Every American has benefitted from the sacrifices of

those Americans who have lived and are living on Vieques and

it is our intent to acknowledge that sacrifice and to treat

those Americans with the same respect and appreciation that

other Americans enjoy.

(11) In 2012, the residents of Vieques were denied the

ability to address their needs in Court due to sovereign

immunity, Sanchez v. United States, No. 3:09-cv-01260-DRD

(D.P.R.). However, the United States Court of Appeals for the

First Circuit referred the issue to Congress and urged it to

address the humanitarian crisis. This bill attempts to

satisfy that request such that Americans living on Vieques

have a remedy for the suffering they have endured.

Certain Residents of the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.—

(1) Appointment of special master.—

(A) In general.—The Attorney General shall appoint a

Special Master not later than 90 days after the date of the

enactment of this Act to consider claims by the Municipality

of Vieques.

(B) Qualifications.—The Attorney General shall consider

the following in choosing the Special Master:

(i) The individual's experience in the processing of

victims' claims in relation to foreign or domestic

governments.

(ii) The individual's balance of experience in representing

the interests of the United States.

(iii) The individual's experience in matters of national

security.

(iv) The individual's demonstrated abilities in

investigation and fact findings in complex factual matters.

(v) Any experience the individual has had advising the

United States Government.

(2) Award amounts related to claims by the municipality of

vieques.—

(A) Award.—The Special Master, in exchange for its

administrative claims, shall provide the following as

compensation to the Municipality of Vieques:

(i) Staff.—The Special Master shall oversee the

construction of a level three trauma center (in this section,

referred to as “medical facility”) with a cancer center and

renal dialysis unit and its equipment. The medical facility

shall be able to treat life-threatening, chronic, heavy

metal, and physical and mental diseases. The medical facility

shall be able to provide basic x-ray, EKG, internal medicine

expertise, medical coordination personnel and case managers,

ultrasound, and resources necessary to screen residents of

Vieques for diseases, illnesses, cancers, or any other

prevailing health problems on Vieques.

(ii) Operations.—The Special Master shall provide medical

care for pediatric and adult patients who reside on the

island of Vieques, and have been determined by the by the

Special Master to meet the requirements of paragraph (1)

allowing the patients to be referred for tertiary and

quaternary health care facilities when necessary, and

providing the transportation and medical costs when traveling

off the island of Vieques.

(iii) Interim services.—Before the medical facility on the

island of Vieques is operational, the Special Master shall

provide to claimants described in paragraph (1) who are

receiving treatment for the diseases or illnesses described

in subparagraph (C) of that paragraph—

(I) urgent health care air transport to hospitals on the

mainland of Puerto Rico from the island of Vieques;

(II) medical coordination personnel and case managers;

(III) telemedicine communication abilities; and

(IV) any other services that are necessary to alleviate the

health crisis on the island of Vieques.

(iv) Screening.—The Special Master shall make available,

at no cost to the patient, medical screening for cancer,

cirrhosis, diabetes, and heavy metal contamination on the

island of Vieques.

(v) Academic partner.—The Special Master shall appoint an

academic partner, with appropriate experience and an

established relationship with the Municipality of Vieques,

that shall—

(I) lead a research and outreach endeavor on behalf of the

Municipality of Vieques;

(II) select the appropriate scientific expertise and

administer defined studies, conducting testing and evaluation

of the soils, seas, plant and animal food sources, and the

health of residents; and

(III) determine and implement the most efficient and

effective way to reduce the environmental toxins to a level

sufficient to return the soils, seas, food sources, and

health circumstances to a level that reduces the diseases on

the island of Vieques to the average in the United States.

(vi) Duties.—The Special Master shall provide amounts

necessary for the academic partner and medical coordinator to

carry out the duties described in clauses (i) through (iv).

(vii) Procurement.—The Special Master shall provide

amounts necessary to compensate the Municipality of Vieques

for—

(I) contractual procurement obligations and additional

expenses incurred by the Municipality of Vieques as a result

of the enactment of this section and settlement of its claim;

and

(II) any other damages and costs to be incurred by the

Municipality of Vieques, if the Special Master determines

that it is necessary to carry out the purpose of this

section.

(viii) Power source.—The Special Master shall determine

the best source of producing independent power on the island

of Vieques that is hurricane resilient and can effectively

sustain the needs of the island and shall oversee the

construction of the power source through funds provided by

the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the government of

Puerto Rico.

(B) Source.—

(i) In general.—Except as provided in clause (ii), amounts

awarded under this section shall be made from amounts

appropriated under section 1304 of title 31, United States

Code, commonly known as the “Judgment Fund”, as if claims

were adjudicated by a United States District Court under

section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code.

(ii) Limitation.—Total amounts awarded under this section

shall not exceed $350,000,000.

(i) Establishment of filing procedures.—The Attorney

General shall establish procedures whereby the Municipality

of Vieques may submit claims for payments under this section

to the Special Master.

(ii) Determination of claims.—The Special Master shall, in

accordance with this subsection, determine whether the

municipal claim meets the requirements of this section.

Claims filed by residents of the island of Vieques that have

been disposed of by a court under chapter 171 of title 28,

United States Code, shall be treated as if such claims are

currently filed.

(3) Action on claims.—The Special Master shall make a

determination on any claim filed under the procedures

established under this section not later than 150 days after

the date on which the claim is filed.

(4) Payment in full settlement of claims by the

municipality of vieques against the united states.—The

acceptance by the Municipality of Vieques of a payment of an

award under this section shall—

(A) be final and conclusive;

(B) be deemed to be in full satisfaction of all claims

under chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code; and

Vieques of such claim against the United States and against

any employee of the United States acting in the scope of

employment who is involved in the matter giving rise to the

claim.

(5) Limitation on claims.—A claim to which this section

applies shall be barred unless the claim is filed within 15

years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(6) Attorney's fees.—A representative of the Municipality

of Vieques shall receive 17 percent of the amount of the

claim for services rendered for filing claims under this

section.

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