Blumenthal Introduces Legislation Ensuring Veterans who Signed Secrecy Oaths Receive Full Benefits

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, recently introduced legislation to ensure veterans that have participated in secrecy oath programs receive the full benefits they have rightfully earned. S. 1665, the Obligations to Aberdeen’s Trusted Heroes (OATH) Act, ensures veterans who signed secrecy oaths preventing them from disclosing injuries and illnesses connected to covert operations to seek benefits retroactive to their discharge date—not the date they were released from their secrecy agreements.

“Veterans deserve the best health care and benefits we have to offer. The brave servicemembers who committed themselves to our country and took part in these secrecy oath programs reflect a dedication, courage, and grit that inspires us all—and they shouldn’t be denied VA benefits because of these secrecy oaths,” said Blumenthal. “The OATH Act ensures these veterans are never again denied the full entitlement of benefits they have rightfully earned.”

From 1948 to 1975, more than 7,000 United States Army personnel were sworn to secrecy to participate in a program at Edgewood Arsenal at Aberdeen Proving Ground in which they were subjected to secret chemical warfare testing. When these veterans left service in the Army, they could not seek Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits for disabilities relating to the program without violating their secrecy oaths. In 2006, the Department of Defense released these veterans from their secrecy oaths, but due to a statue governing veterans’ benefits, they could only receive benefits beginning from the date of their disability application and not their discharge date—depriving these veterans of earned VA benefits for decades.

In 2023, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Taylor v. McDonough concluded that the secrecy agreement actively interfered with Mr. Taylor’s –– who participated in the secret Army program at the Edgewood Arsenal –– legal entitlement to VA disability benefits and ordered VA to make the effective date of benefits for Mr. Taylor, and similarly situated veterans, the date they were discharged from military service.  The OATH Act would codify the Taylor v. McDonough decision to ensure veterans who participate in secrecy agreements receive benefits effective from the date they were discharged from service instead of the date they were released from their secrecy agreements. It would also require VA to identify all veterans who participated in the program at Aberdeen Proving Ground and to notify them of their earned VA benefits.

The full text of the bill is available here.

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