[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5166 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5166

  To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the 
Armed Forces to receive the anthrax and smallpox immunizations without 
  their consent, to correct the records of servicemembers previously 
 punished for refusing to take these vaccines, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 2004

 Mr. Shays (for himself and Mr. Towns) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the 
Armed Forces to receive the anthrax and smallpox immunizations without 
  their consent, to correct the records of servicemembers previously 
 punished for refusing to take these vaccines, 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 ``Armed Forces Voluntary Immunization and 
Heath Justice Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. CONSENT OF SERVICEMEMBER REQUIRED FOR SMALLPOX AND ANTHRAX 
              IMMUNIZATIONS.

    (a) Smallpox Vaccine Immunization Program.--A member of the Armed 
Forces may not be required to participate in the smallpox vaccine 
immunization program of the Department of Defense. A smallpox 
immunization vaccination may not be administered to any such member 
without the informed consent of the member.
    (b) Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program.--A member of the Armed 
Forces may not be required to participate in the anthrax vaccine 
immunization program of the Department of Defense An anthrax 
immunization vaccination may not be administered to any such member 
without the informed consent of the member.

SEC. 3. CORRECTION OF RECORDS OF SERVICEMEMBERS PREVIOUSLY PUNISHED FOR 
              REFUSAL TO TAKE SMALLPOX OR ANTHRAX VACCINE.

    (a) Correction.--In the case of a member or former member of the 
Armed Forces who before the date of the enactment of this Act was 
subject to any form of adverse personnel action as a result of the 
refusal of the member or former member (while a member of the Armed 
Forces) to take a vaccine covered by section 2, the Secretary 
concerned, acting through the appropriate board for the correction of 
military records under chapter 79 of title 10, United States Code, 
shall, upon application, take such actions as may be necessary to 
correct the military records of the member or former member so as to 
obviate any adverse consequences of the member or former member's 
refusal to take such a vaccine.
    (b) Time for Application.--Any period established by law or 
regulation for the submission of an application for correction of a 
military record shall be treated, for purposes of an application to 
make a correction by reason of subsection (a), as running from the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Expediting Consideration of Applications.--The Secretary of 
each military department shall take such actions as may be necessary to 
expedite consideration of applications for correction of military 
records under subsection (a).
    (d) Secretary Concerned.--In this section, the term ``Secretary 
concerned'' has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 10, 
United States Code.
    (e) Annual Report.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall submit to 
the congressional committees specified in paragraph (2) an annual 
report on activities under this section. Each such report shall 
identify the number of applications received for correction of military 
records under this section, the basis for decisions taken on those 
applications, and the types of actions taken with respect to those 
applications.
    (2) The congressional committees referred to in paragraph (1) are 
the following:
            (A) The Committee on Government Reform, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
        House of Representatives.
            (B) The Committee on Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 
        Armed Services, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
        Senate.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT THREAT OF ANTHRAX AND SMALLPOX ATTACKS.

    (a) Reevaluation Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall include 
in the report to Congress specified in subsection (b) an assessment of 
the current threat of an anthrax attack or a smallpox attack on members 
of the Armed Forces. The assessment shall be prepared in consultation 
with the head of each element of the intelligence community (as defined 
in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 
401a(4))).
    (b) Annual Chem-Bio Report.--The report referred to in subsection 
(a) is the next annual report submitted to Congress after the date of 
the enactment of this Act under section 1703 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (50 U.S.C. 1523), relating to 
chemical and biological warfare defense.

SEC. 5. RESEARCH FUNCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall--
            (1) carry out an ongoing assessment of the adverse health 
        effects being reported by members and former members of the 
        Armed Forces with respect to the smallpox and anthrax vaccines 
        administered by the Department of Defense;
            (2) carry out a research program to determine causal 
        relationships (if any) between such effects and those vaccines; 
        and
            (3) prepare an estimate of the future cost to the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs to treat those adverse health 
        effects, if determined to be service-connected.

SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR MILITARY DEPLOYMENT HEALTH 
              RESEARCH.

    (a) Establishment.--The President shall establish a National Center 
for Military Deployment Health Research to coordinate and synthesize 
research efforts by Federal departments and agencies relating to the 
health effects of military deployments on members of the Armed Forces, 
including members of the reserve components.
    (b) Criteria.--To the maximum extent practicable, the center shall 
be established in a manner consistent with the recommendations of the 
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in a report 
dated January 1, 1999, titled ``National Center for Military Deployment 
Health Research''.
    (c) Implementation.--The center shall be established not later than 
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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