[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4463 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4463

 To provide for identification of members of the Armed Forces exposed 
  during military service to depleted uranium, to provide for health 
            testing of such members, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 2004

 Mr. Serrano (for himself, Mr. Crowley, and Mr. Engel) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for identification of members of the Armed Forces exposed 
  during military service to depleted uranium, to provide for health 
            testing of such members, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Depleted Uranium Screeing and 
Testing Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. DEPLETED URANIUM RISK NOTIFICATION FOR DEPLOYING FORCES.

    (a) Notification.-- The Secretary of Defense shall establish 
procedures to require that, as part of the procedures for preparing 
members of the Armed Forces for deployment to a theater of operations, 
that such members be notified of--
            (1) any known or likely use of depleted uranium in that 
        theater of operations (whether by forces of the United States 
        and its allies or by any opposing forces); and
            (2) any health risks associated with exposure to depleted 
        uranium.
    (b) Training.--The Secretary shall provide for training deploying 
forces on how to handle depleted uranium before deploying them to a 
theater in which depleted uranium is used.

SEC. 3. DEPLETED URANIUM SCREENING AND TESTING.

    (a) Identification and Testing Required.--The Secretary of Defense 
shall carry out a program to identify individuals who during active 
service in the Armed Forces are or have been exposed to depleted 
uranium and to provide those individuals with bioassay testing and 
notification of the results of such testing.
    (b) Du-Exposed Personnel Identification Methods.--(1) The Secretary 
of each military department shall establish procedures to identify 
members of the Armed Forces under the Secretary's jurisdiction who are, 
or may have been, exposed to depleted uranium. For such purpose, the 
Secretary shall identify units and members under paragraph (2) and 
shall accept self-identification reports by members under paragraph 
(3).
    (2) The Secretary of each military department shall identify units, 
and personnel assigned to units, that have been, or could have been, 
exposed to depleted uranium, based upon information about known 
exposure events (as determined under subsection (c)).
    (3) The Secretary of each military department shall accept a report 
by an individual that the individual, while a member of the Armed 
Forces under the Secretary's jurisdiction, was, or may have been, 
exposed to depleted uranium based upon service on active duty (or 
training duty or funeral honors duty) in a theater of operations where 
depleted uranium was used, including travel through such an area. The 
Secretary shall prescribe procedures for receiving such reports.
    (4) In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary of each military 
department shall ensure that individuals no longer on active duty 
(including members of the reserve components who have been released 
from active duty, members who have been retired, and members who have 
been separated from service) are treated, for identification purposes, 
in the same manner as individuals remaining on active duty.
    (c) Exposure Events.--The Secretary of Defense shall identify 
depleted uranium exposure events for purposes of this section. The 
exposure events identified shall include the following:
            (1) An event in which an individual--
                    (A) is struck by depleted uranium munitions or 
                depleted uranium armor fragments;
                    (B) is within 50 meters of a vehicle or structure 
                containing or equipped with depleted uranium cargo or 
                components (such as aircraft counterweights and 
                helicopter rotor tips) at a time that the vehicle or 
                structure was struck, exploded, burned, or crashed; or
                    (C) while acting as a first responder to an event 
                described in subparagraph (B), enters within 50 meters 
                of the vehicle or structure to render aid.
            (2) An event in which an individual--
                    (A) enters a vehicle or structure with possible 
                depleted uranium residues in order to perform 
                maintenance, recovery, intelligence, or battle damage 
                assessment; or
                    (B) breathes smoke from fires involving depleted 
                uranium materials.
            (3) An event in which an individual may inhale depleted 
        uranium particulates as a result of the handling of depleted 
        uranium contaminated equipment or wreckage or exposure to 
        particulate residues as part of maintenance duties (including 
        duties as a welder or ammunition handler or duties involving 
        cleanup or processing of depleted uranium contaminated 
        equipment).
            (4) Other incidental exposures identified by the Secretary, 
        including the performance of activities in the area of depleted 
        uranium damaged vehicles or structures or the traveling through 
        or residing in any such area.
In addition to exposure events described in paragraphs (1) through (4) 
occurring on or after the the date of the enactment of this Act, such 
events during the period between January 1, 2003, and the date of the 
enactment of this Act may be considered for purposes of this section, 
but only if reported during the 60-day period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Health-Care Services Required.--(1) Any individual identified 
under subsection (b) shall be provided a health screening test by the 
Secretary of Defense. Such test shall be carried out using a bioassay 
procedure developed by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same bioassay 
procedure shall be used for all types of exposure or possible exposure 
under subsection (c).
    (2)(A) In the case of an individual with an exposure event 
described in subsection (c) other than under paragraph (4) of that 
subsection, the bioassay under paragraph (1) shall be administered not 
later than 180 days after the date of the event.
    (B) In the case of an individual with an exposure event described 
in subsection (c)(4), the bioassay under paragraph (1) shall be 
administered not later than 30 days after the end of the individual's 
deployment in the theater of operations, but such individual may be 
provided the bioassay earlier upon the individual's request.
    (3) The Secretary of Defense shall provide the results of any 
bioassay procedure under this subsection to the individual tested, and 
the primary care manager or primary care provider of that individual, 
not later than 30 days after the Secretary receives those results.
    (e) Personnel Tracking.--The Secretary of each military department 
shall establish procedures for collecting, tracking, and maintaining 
information on the health status of individuals tested under subsection 
(d) for the purpose of assessing any long-term health consequences of 
exposure to depleted uranium.
    (f) Independent Review of Bioassay Types and Contamination 
Thresholds.--The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention shall conduct an independent review of bioassay types and 
contamination thresholds for purposes of the testing under subsection 
(d).
    (g) Treatment.--Based on the results of the bioassay tests, the 
Secretary of the military department concerned shall provide 
appropriate treatment for any illness of an individual resulting from a 
depleted uranium contamination or exposure.

SEC. 4. SURVEY OF RADIOISOTOPE IDENTIFICATION EQUIPMENT USED BY 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

    (a) Survey.--The Comptroller General shall conduct a survey of 
radioisotope identification equipment used by the Department of Defense 
in order to assess the capability of Department of Defense facilities 
to identify concentrations of different radioisotopes in naturally 
occurring levels of uranium.
    (b) Report.--The Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a 
report on the results of the survey under subsection (a) not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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