[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 25, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 897. Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. Brown) submitted an amendment
intended to be proposed to amendment SA 764 proposed by Mr. Inhofe to
the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle A of title VII, add the following:
SEC. 705. ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH OF CERTAIN BIOLOGICAL
DEPENDENTS IN CONNECTION WITH PERIODIC HEALTH
ASSESSMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND
VETERANS.
(a) Assessment of Health of Certain Dependents Required.--
The Secretary concerned shall ensure that any periodic health
assessment or physical of a member of the Armed Forces or a
veteran provided by or for purposes of the Department of
Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, as applicable,
includes a recording of the health conditions of any
biological descendants of the member or veteran, as the case
may be.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the recording of the health
conditions of descendants under subsection (a) shall be to
facilitate the tracking and identification of health
conditions in such descendants that may be causally related
to the exposure of the member or veteran concerned to toxins
during service in the Armed Forces.
(c) Elements.--
(1) In general.--The recording of the health conditions of
descendants under subsection (a) shall include questions of
the member or veteran concerned on the following:
(A) Whether such member or veteran has experienced
infertility or an adverse birth outcome, and, if so and if
known, the cause of or diagnosis for such infertility or
birth outcome.
(B) The health conditions of each biological descendant of
such member or veteran, including any current medical
diagnosis, and any current mental health diagnosis, with
respect to any such descendant.
(2) Preservation and compilation.--The information derived
from answers to questions of a member or veteran during their
periodic health assessments or physicals on the health
conditions of descendants of the member or veteran under
subsection (a) shall be preserved and compiled in a manner
designed to facilitate the use of such information for the
purpose specified in subsection (b) in connection with the
member or veteran.
(d) Memorandum of Understanding.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall jointly enter into a memorandum of
understanding that provides for the following:
(A) The sharing of information between the Department of
Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs on trends
identified through evaluations of the health of descendants
under subsection (a).
(B) The analysis of data collected through periodic health
assessments and physicals of members and veterans on the
health conditions of descendants under subsection (a), in
order to identify potential causal relationships between the
exposure of members and veterans to toxins during service in
the Armed Forces and the generational effects of such
exposure on the biological descendants of members and
veterans.
(2) Annual report.--Not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of
Congress a report on activities undertaken under the
memorandum of understanding entered into under paragraph (1)
during the one-year period ending on the date of such report.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives.
(2) The term ``Secretary concerned'' means the following:
(A) The Secretary of Defense with respect to members of the
Armed Forces.
(B) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to
veterans.
(3) The term ``biological descendant'', in the case of a
member or veteran, means a biological child or grandchild of
the member or veteran.
(4) The term ``periodic health assessment'' includes a
physical examination.
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