[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4043 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4043

To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive database 
    and repository on military aviators and conduct a study on such 
 aviators to determine the incidence of cancer diagnosis and mortality 
              among such aviators, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2020

    Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. 
 Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive database 
    and repository on military aviators and conduct a study on such 
 aviators to determine the incidence of cancer diagnosis and mortality 
              among such aviators, 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 ``Military Aviators Cancer Incidence 
Study Act''.

SEC. 2. DATABASE ON MILITARY AVIATORS AND STUDY ON THE INCIDENCE OF 
              CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND MORTALITY AMONG MILITARY AVIATORS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) It has been reported that the prevalence of cancer is 
        particularly high among military aviators, particularly among 
        fighter pilots in the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
            (2) There have been several alarming clusters of cancer 
        diagnoses at military installations, including at Naval Air 
        Weapons Station China Lake in California and Seymour Johnson 
        Air Force Base in North Carolina.
            (3) Four commanding officers who served at Naval Air 
        Weapons Station China Lake have died of cancer. Each officer 
        had completed thousands of flight hours in advanced jets.
            (4) According to a study by the Air Force in 2008 titled 
        ``Cancer in Fighters'', six pilots and weapons systems officers 
        for the F-15E Strike Eagle at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, 
        aged 33 to 43, were diagnosed with forms of urogenital cancers 
        between 2002 and 2005. Each officer had completed at least 
        2,100 flight hours.
            (5) A study by the Air Force in 2010 reported on a cluster 
        of seven members of the Air Force Special Operations Command 
        diagnosed with brain cancer among crew members of the C-130 
        between 2006 and 2009. The individuals affected were three C-
        130 pilots, two flight engineers, one loadmaster, and one 
        navigator assigned to different installations around the world. 
        Overall, brain cancer affects approximately 6.5 out of 100,000 
        people in the United States annually.
            (6) There has been no comprehensive study conducted of 
        cancer rates among military aviators.
            (7) One challenge of extracting findings from previous 
        studies by the Navy or the Air Force on cancer rates is that 
        each study focused on pilots who are active duty members of the 
        Armed Forces and did not include the medical records of former 
        pilots who are veterans, which is the population in which 
        cancer is surfacing.
            (8) Members of the Armed Forces who serve full military 
        careers are not likely to be counted in data captured by the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs. Members who serve 20 years or 
        more are eligible for health care under the TRICARE program, 
        which is managed by the Department of Defense. Also, many 
        members pursue private sector jobs after separating from the 
        Armed Forces and receive health care outside of the Federal 
        Government. Those factors have made it difficult to find 
        statistics to back up the health issues that families of 
        military aviators are experiencing.
    (b) Database.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall seek 
        to enter into an agreement with the National Institutes of 
        Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs, under which the Secretary of Defense shall 
        develop a comprehensive database and repository--
                    (A) identifying each military aviator; and
                    (B) documenting the cancers, date of diagnosis, and 
                mortality of all such military aviators.
            (2) Data.--The Secretary of Defense shall format all data 
        included in the database and repository under paragraph (1) in 
        accordance with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 
        program of the National Cancer Institute, including by 
        disaggregating such data by race, gender, and age.
    (c) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense, in conjunction 
        with the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer 
        Institute, shall conduct a study on cancer among military 
        aviators in two phases as provided in this subsection.
            (2) Phase 1.--
                    (A) In general.--Under the initial phase of the 
                study conducted under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 
                Defense shall determine if there is a higher incidence 
                of cancers occurring for military aviators as compared 
                to similar age groups in the general population through 
                the use of the database of the Surveillance, 
                Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National 
                Cancer Institute.
                    (B) Report.--Not later than one year after the date 
                on which the Secretary of Defense enters into the 
                agreement under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall 
                submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
                report on the findings of the initial phase of the 
                study under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Phase 2.--
                    (A) In general.--If, pursuant to the initial phase 
                of the study under paragraph (2), the Secretary 
                concludes that there is an increased rate of cancers 
                among military aviators, the Secretary shall conduct a 
                second phase of the study under which the Secretary 
                shall do the following:
                            (i) Identify the carcinogenic toxins or 
                        hazardous materials associated with military 
                        flight operations from shipboard or land bases 
                        or facilities, such as fuels, fumes, and other 
                        liquids.
                            (ii) Identify the operating environments, 
                        including frequencies or electromagnetic 
                        fields, where exposure to ionizing radiation 
                        (associated with high altitude flight) and 
                        nonionizing radiation (associated with 
                        airborne, ground, and shipboard radars) 
                        occurred in which military aviators could have 
                        received increased radiation amounts.
                            (iii) Identify, for each military aviator, 
                        duty stations, dates of service, aircraft 
                        flown, and additional duties (such as Landing 
                        Safety Officer, Catapult and Arresting Gear 
                        Officer, Air Liaison Officer, or Tactical Air 
                        Control Party) that could have increased the 
                        risk of cancer for such military aviator.
                            (iv) Determine locations where a military 
                        aviator served or additional duties of a 
                        military aviator that are associated with 
                        higher incidences of cancers.
                            (v) Identify potential exposures due to 
                        service in the Armed Forces that are not 
                        related to aviation, such as exposure to burn 
                        pits or toxins in contaminated water, embedded 
                        in the soil, or inside bases or housing.
                            (vi) Determine the appropriate age to begin 
                        screening military aviators for cancer based on 
                        race, gender, flying hours, Armed Force, type 
                        of aircraft, and mission.
                    (B) Data.--The Secretary shall format all data 
                included in the study conducted under this paragraph in 
                accordance with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End 
                Results program of the National Cancer Institute, 
                including by disaggregating such data by race, gender, 
                and age.
                    (C) Report.--Not later than one year after the 
                submittal of the report under paragraph (2)(B), if the 
                Secretary conducts the second phase of the study under 
                this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to the 
                appropriate committees of Congress a report on the 
                findings of the study conducted under this paragraph.
            (4) Use of data from previous studies.--In conducting the 
        study under this subsection, the Secretary of Defense shall 
        incorporate data from previous studies conducted by the Air 
        Force, the Navy, or the Marine Corps that are relevant to the 
        study under this subsection, including data from the 
        comprehensive study conducted by the Air Force identifying each 
        military aviator and documenting the cancers, dates of 
        diagnoses, and mortality of each military aviator.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate committee of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
                Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services and the 
                Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Armed forces.--The term ``Armed Forces''--
                    (A) has the meaning given the term ``armed forces'' 
                in section 101 of title 10, United States Code; and
                    (B) includes the reserve components named in 
                section 10101 of such title.
            (3) Military aviator.--The term ``military aviator''--
                    (A) means an aviator who served in the Armed Forces 
                on or after February 28, 1961; and
                    (B) includes any air crew member of fixed-wing 
                aircraft, including pilots, navigators, weapons systems 
                operators, aircraft system operators, and any other 
                crew member who regularly flies in an aircraft or is 
                required to complete the mission of the aircraft.
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