50 U.S.C. § 4215
Subject to paragraph (7), the Attorney General shall, subject to the availability of funds appropriated to the Fund for such purpose, pay out of the Fund to each eligible individual the sum of $20,000, unless such individual refuses, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept the payment.
The Attorney General shall identify and locate, without requiring any application for payment and using records already in the possession of the United States Government, each eligible individual. The Attorney General should use funds and resources available to the Attorney General, including those described in subsection (c), to attempt to complete such identification and location within 12 months after August 10, 1988. Any eligible individual may notify the Attorney General that such individual is an eligible individual, and may provide documentation therefor. The Attorney General shall designate an officer or employee to whom such notification and documentation may be sent, shall maintain a list of all individuals who submit such notification and documentation, and shall, subject to the availability of funds appropriated for such purpose, encourage, through a public awareness campaign, each eligible individual to submit his or her current address to such officer or employee. To the extent that resources referred to in the second sentence of this paragraph are not sufficient to complete the identification and location of all eligible individuals, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for such purpose. In any case, the identification and location of all eligible individuals shall be completed within 12 months after the appropriation of funds under the preceding sentence. Failure to be identified and located by the end of the 12-month period specified in the preceding sentence shall not preclude an eligible individual from receiving payment under this section.
When, after consideration of all evidence and relevant material for determining whether an individual is an eligible individual, there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of an issue material to the determination of eligibility, the benefit of the doubt in resolving each such issue shall be given to such individual.
The Attorney General shall, when funds are appropriated to the Fund for payments to an eligible individual under this section, notify that eligible individual in writing of his or her eligibility for payment under this section. Such notice shall inform the eligible individual that-
If an eligible individual refuses, in a written document filed with the Attorney General, to accept any payment under this section, the amount of such payment shall remain in the Fund and no payment may be made under this section to such individual at any time after such refusal.
The acceptance of payment by an eligible individual under this section shall be in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States arising out of acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title. This paragraph shall apply to any eligible individual who does not refuse, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept payment under this section within 18 months after receiving the notification from the Attorney General referred to in paragraph (4).
No payment may be made under this section to any individual who, after September 1, 1987, accepts payment pursuant to an award of a final judgment or a settlement on a claim against the United States for acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title, or to any surviving spouse, child, or parent of such individual to whom paragraph (8) applies.
If there is no surviving spouse, children, or parents described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), the amount of such payment shall remain in the Fund, and may be used only for the purposes set forth in section 4216(b) of this title.
The Attorney General shall endeavor to make payments under this section to eligible individuals in the order of date of birth (with the oldest individual on August 10, 1988 (or, if applicable, that individual's survivors under paragraph (8)) receiving full payment first), until all eligible individuals have received payment in full.
In attempting to locate any eligible individual, the Attorney General may use any facility or resource of any public or nonprofit organization or any other record, document, or information that may be made available to the Attorney General.
No costs incurred by the Attorney General in carrying out this section shall be paid from the Fund or set off against, or otherwise deducted from, any payment under this section to any eligible individual.
The duties of the Attorney General under this section shall cease 180 days after the Fund terminates.
Amounts paid to an eligible individual under this section-
An eligible individual may be paid under this section only from amounts in the Fund.
Nothing in this subchapter shall authorize the payment to an eligible individual by the United States Government of any amount authorized by this section from any source other than the Fund.
If at any time the Fund has insufficient funds to pay all eligible individuals at such time, such eligible individuals shall, to the extent permitted under paragraph (1), be paid in full in the order specified in subsection (b).
A claimant may seek judicial review of a denial of compensation under this section solely in the United States Court of Federal Claims, which shall review the denial upon the administrative record and shall hold unlawful and set aside the denial if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.
This subsection shall apply only to any claim filed in court on or after September 27, 1992.
50 U.S.C. § 4215
EDITORIAL NOTES
CODIFICATIONSection was formerly classified to section 1989b-4 of the former Appendix to this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.
AMENDMENTS1992-Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(c)(1)(A), substituted "(7)" for "(6)" and "(5)" for "(4)".Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(2), added par. (3). Former par. (3) redesignated (4). Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(1), (c)(1)(B), redesignated par. (3) as (4) and in subpar. (B) substituted "(5)" for "(4)" and "(6)" for "(5)". Former par. (4) redesignated (5).Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(1), redesignated par. (4) as (5). Former par. (5) redesignated (6).Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(1), (c)(1)(C), redesignated par. (5) as (6) and substituted "(5)" for "(4)" and "(4)" for "(3)". Former par. (6) redesignated (7). Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(1), (c)(1)(D), redesignated par. (6) as (7) and substituted "(8)" for "(6)". Former par. (7) redesignated (8).Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(a)(1), redesignated par. (7) as (8).Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(c)(2), substituted "(8)" for "(6)". Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102-371, §5, substituted "180 days after the Fund terminates" for "when the Fund terminates".Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 102-371, §6(a), substituted "or available under any other law administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or for purposes of determining the" for ", or the". Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102-572 substituted "United States Court of Federal Claims" for "United States Claims Court" in par. (1). Pub. L. 102-371, §4(b), added subsec. (h). 1989-Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101-162 added subsec. (g).
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 102-572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102-572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Pub. L. 102-371, §6(b), Sept. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 1168, provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall be effective as of August 10, 1988."