[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3364-S3365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1831. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Blumenthal, and
Mr. Markey) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to
the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
[[Page S3365]]
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 C of title VII, add the following:
SEC. 752. 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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