[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 798 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 798

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to establish a permanent, confidential database and 
  toll-free telephone line for the collection of medical information 
          concerning members of the Armed Forces and veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 1995

Mr. Gejdenson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to establish a permanent, confidential database and 
  toll-free telephone line for the collection of medical information 
          concerning members of the Armed Forces and veterans.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. VETERANS' MEDICAL DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end of subchapter I the following new section:
``Sec. 1705. Confidential medical history database
    ``(a) In order to provide information for the detection of patterns 
of illnesses among members of the Armed Forces and veterans, the 
Secretary shall maintain a database consisting of the medical histories 
of individuals described in subsection (c), together with their 
military service histories and relevant personal information. The 
Secretary shall ensure that the information in the database is 
maintained in a format that is compatible with information in other 
health registries maintained by the Secretary.
    ``(b) The Secretary shall regularly monitor the database for 
patterns of illnesses that may correlate to military service or to 
military service in particular areas, at particular times, or in 
particular service specialities.
    ``(c) The database shall be compiled concerning the medical history 
of individuals who as members of the Armed Forces are deployed for any 
operational mission (beginning with the operation in Somalia in 1992-
1993) and the spouses and children of those members.
    ``(d) Information may be included in the database concerning an 
individual only with the permission of that individual (or, in the case 
of a child, a parent of that child). The identity of any individual 
providing information for inclusion in the database of information 
shall be confidential, and information provided by any such individual 
may not, without the consent of that individual, be disclosed outside 
the Department or to any other entity within the Department in a manner 
that would enable the identification of the individual providing the 
information.
    ``(e)(1) The Secretary shall maintain a toll-free telephone number 
to be available for members of the Armed Forces and veterans to report 
to the Secretary information for inclusion in the database. The 
Secretary shall staff the number with employees of the Department. 
Employees staffing the number shall obtain information for the database 
relating to symptoms and medical history, military service history, and 
personal information in as uniform manner as possible.
    ``(2) In establishing the toll-free telephone number reporting 
system under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with the 
Secretary of Defense and representatives of veterans service 
organizations recognized by the Secretary under section 5902 of this 
title to determine the appropriate information to be sought from 
members and veterans calling that number.
    ``(f) With the permission of the member or veteran, the Secretary 
shall include in the database information concerning a member or 
veteran (or the spouse or child of the member or veteran) from the 
following sources:
            ``(1) A claim for disability benefits filed with the 
        Department.
            ``(2) A medical history in the custody of the Secretary of 
        Defense.
            ``(3) Information from health screenings conducted by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(g) The Secretary shall (subject to subsection (d)) make 
information in the database available to accredited institutions of 
higher education and any other institution the Secretary considers 
appropriate for medical studies and related research activities. The 
Secretary shall make available to such institutions general statistical 
information concerning information in the database.
    ``(h) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' 
Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives an annual report on 
the operation of the database and the toll-free telephone number under 
this section. The Secretary shall include in the report--
            ``(1) information on the number of persons providing 
        information for inclusion in the database;
            ``(2) the current status of monitoring of the database 
        under subsection (b) for detection of patterns of illnesses; 
        and
            ``(3) the types of illnesses recorded in the database and 
        the number of cases of each such illness.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
1704 the following new item:

``1705. Confidential medical history database.''.
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