[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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