[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 127 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4300-S4301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2475. Mrs. BLACKBURN submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed to amendment SA 2301 proposed by Mr. Inhofe 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, 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 appropriate place in title X, insert the following:
Subtitle __--K2 Veterans Toxic Exposure Accountability
SEC. __1. STUDY ON TOXIC EXPOSURE AT KARSHI KHANABAD AIR
BASE, UZBEKISTAN.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a
study on toxic exposure by members of the Armed Forces
deployed to Karshi Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any time
during the period beginning October 1, 2001, and ending
December 31, 2005.
(2) Matters included.--The study under paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) An assessment regarding the conditions of Karshi
Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, during the period beginning
October 1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2005, including an
identification of toxic substances contaminating the Air Base
during such period.
(B) An epidemiological study of the health consequences of
a member of the Armed Forces deployed to the Air Base during
such period.
(C) An assessment of any association between exposure to
toxic substances identified under subparagraph (A) and the
health consequences studied under subparagraph (B).
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report containing--
(1) the study under subsection (a); and
(2) a description of--
(A) the benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs that a veteran may be eligible to receive by reason
of being exposed to toxic substances at Karshi Khanabad Air
Base, Uzbekistan, while serving in the Armed Forces; and
(B) the outreach conducted by the Secretary to inform such
veterans of such benefits.
SEC. __2. ESTABLISHMENT OF K2 TOXIC EXPOSURE REGISTRY.
(a) Establishment of Registry.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall--
(A) establish and maintain a registry for eligible
individuals who may have been exposed to toxic substances at
Karshi Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any time during the
period beginning October 1, 2001, and ending December 31,
2005;
(B) include any information in such registry that the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines necessary to
ascertain and monitor the health effects of the exposure of
members to such substances;
(C) develop a public information campaign to inform
eligible individuals about the registry, including how to
register and the benefits of registering; and
(D) periodically notify eligible individuals of significant
developments in the study and treatment of conditions
associated with such exposure.
(2) Updates.--The Secretary shall take actions necessary to
ensure that the registry may be updated with the cause of
death of a deceased registered individual by--
(A) an individual designated by such deceased registered
individual; or
(B) if no such individual is designated, an immediate
family member of such deceased registered individual.
(3) Coordination.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
coordinate with the Secretary of Defense in carrying out
paragraph (1).
(b) Report to Congress.--
(1) Reports by independent scientific organization.--The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into an agreement
with an independent scientific organization to prepare
reports as follows:
(A) Not later than two years after the date on which the
registry under subsection (a) is established, an initial
report containing the following:
(i) An assessment of the effectiveness of actions taken by
the Secretaries to collect and maintain information on the
health effects of exposure to toxic substances at Karshi
Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan.
(ii) Recommendations to improve the collection and
maintenance of such information.
(iii) Using established and previously published
epidemiological studies, recommendations regarding the most
effective and prudent means of addressing the medical needs
[[Page S4301]]
of eligible individuals with respect to conditions that are
likely to result from such exposure.
(B) Not later than five years after completing the initial
report described in subparagraph (A), a follow-up report
containing the following:
(i) An update to the initial report described in
subparagraph (A).
(ii) An assessment of whether and to what degree the
content of the registry established under subsection (a) is
current and scientifically up-to-date.
(2) Submittal to congress.--
(A) Initial report.--Not later than two years after the
date on which the registry under subsection (a) is
established, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
to Congress the initial report prepared under paragraph
(1)(A).
(B) Follow-up report.--Not later than five years after
submitting the report under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress the follow-up
report prepared under paragraph (1)(B).
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``eligible individual'' means any individual
who was deployed as a member of the Armed Forces to Karshi
Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any time during the period
beginning October 1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2005.
(2) The term ``immediate family member'', with respect to a
deceased individual, means--
(A) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, or adult child of
the individual;
(B) an adult person to whom the individual stands in loco
parentis; or
(C) any other adult person--
(i) living in the household of the individual at the time
of the death of the individual; and
(ii) related to the individual by blood or marriage.
(3) The term ``registered individual'' means an individual
registered with the registry under subsection (a).
SEC. __3. DETERMINATION OF PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CONNECTION
FOR ILLNESSES ASSOCIATED WITH K2 EXPOSURE.
(a) In General.--
(1) Determination required.--Not later than 60 days after
the date on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs receives
the results of a covered study, the Secretary shall make a
determination whether a positive association exists between--
(A) the exposure of humans to toxic substances at Karshi
Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any time during the period
beginning October 1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2005; and
(B) the occurrence of a diagnosed illness in humans.
(2) Bases of determination.--In making a determination
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider--
(A) whether the evidence is statistically significant,
capable of replication, and able to withstand peer review
demonstrating that there is positive association between the
exposure and the occurrence of a diagnosed illness;
(B) the results of a covered study; and
(C) all other sound medical and scientific evidence
available to the Secretary.
(3) Presumption.--If the Secretary determines that a
positive association exists between exposure and a diagnosed
illness pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
prescribe regulations providing that--
(A) a presumption of service connection is warranted for
the illness covered by that determination if the illness
first becomes manifest within the period, if any, prescribed
in such regulations in a covered veteran; and
(B) such covered veteran shall be presumed to have been
exposed to toxic substances at Karshi Khanabad Air Base,
Uzbekistan, at any time during the period beginning October
1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2005, unless there is
conclusive evidence to establish that--
(i) the covered veteran was not exposed to toxic substances
in the course of such service in the Armed Forces; or
(ii) the illness first became manifest prior to the covered
veteran's exposure.
(4) Submission.--Upon the date on which the Secretary makes
the determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Senate an explanation of such
determination.
(b) Regulations.--
(1) Proposed regulations.--
(A) Timing.--If the Secretary determines under subsection
(a)(1) that a presumption of service connection is warranted
for an illness, the Secretary shall, not later than 180 days
after making such determination--
(i) issue proposed regulations setting forth the
determination; or
(ii) submit the initial report under subparagraph (B).
(B) Reports.--If the Secretary does not issue proposed
regulations by the deadline established in subparagraph (A),
the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans'
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a
report on the status of such proposed regulations. On a
quarterly basis thereafter until the date on which the
Secretary issues such proposed regulations, the Secretary
shall submit to such committees an update on such status.
(2) Final regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the
date on which the Secretary issues any proposed regulations
under this subsection, the Secretary shall prescribe final
regulations. Such regulations shall be effective on the date
of issuance.
(3) Presumption not warranted.--
(A) Publication.--If the Secretary determines under
subsection (a) that a presumption of service connection is
not warranted for an illness, or proposes to remove a
previously established presumption, the Secretary shall
publish in the Federal Register a notice of that
determination not later than 180 days after making the
determination. The notice shall include an explanation of the
evidence and scientific basis for that determination.
(B) Removal of previous presumption.--If an illness already
presumed to be service connected under this section is
subject to a notice published under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall issue proposed regulations removing the
presumption for the illness not later than 180 days after
publication of such notice.
(4) Effect of removal.--Whenever the presumption of service
connection for an illness under this section is removed under
this subsection--
(A) a veteran who was awarded compensation for the illness
on the basis of the presumption before the effective date of
the removal of the presumption shall continue to be entitled
to receive compensation on that basis; and
(B) a survivor of a veteran who was awarded dependency and
indemnity compensation for the death of a veteran resulting
from the illness on the basis of the presumption before that
date shall continue to be entitled to receive dependency and
indemnity compensation on that basis.
(c) Effective Date of Benefit Awards.--The effective date
of any benefit awarded by reason of this section shall be
determined in accordance with section 5110 of title 38,
United States Code, but shall in no case be earlier than the
effective date of the final regulations prescribed pursuant
to subsection (b)(2).
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``covered study'' includes--
(A) the study conducted under section __1; and
(B) any subsequent study or any study conducted by the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
regarding the effects of exposure of humans to toxic
substances at Karshi Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any
time during the period beginning October 1, 2001, and ending
December 31, 2005.
(2) The term ``covered veteran'' means a veteran who was
deployed as a member of the Armed Forces to Karshi Khanabad
Air Base, Uzbekistan, at any time during the period beginning
October 1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2005.
SEC. __4. ACCESS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES,
ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE TO INFORMATION FROM
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
Upon request by the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine (in this section referred to as the
``Academies''), the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the
Academies information in the possession of the Department of
Defense that the Academies determine useful in performing a
covered study, as that term is defined in section __3(d).
Such information includes, at a minimum, all environmental
sampling data relative to any location included in the study.
______