[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3896. Mr. MORAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to
the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022
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 C of title VII, add the following:
SEC. 744. GRANT PROGRAM FOR INCREASED COOPERATION ON POST-
TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER RESEARCH BETWEEN
UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL.
(a) Findings and Sense of Congress.--
(1) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(A) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that between
11 and 20 percent of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi
Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom have post-traumatic
stress disorder (in this paragraph referred to as ``PTSD'')
in a given year. In addition, that figure amounts to about 12
percent of Gulf War veterans and up to 30 percent of Vietnam
veterans.
(B) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that among
women veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
almost 20 percent have been diagnosed with PTSD.
(C) It is thought that 70 percent of individuals in the
United States have experienced at least one traumatic event
in their lifetime, and approximately 20 percent of those
individuals have struggled or continue to struggle with
symptoms of PTSD.
(D) Studies show that PTSD has links to homelessness and
substance abuse in the United States. The Department of
Veterans Affairs estimates that approximately 11 percent of
the homeless population are veterans and the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that
about seven percent of veterans have a substance abuse
disorder.
(E) Our ally Israel, under constant attack from terrorist
groups, experiences similar issues with Israeli veterans
facing symptoms of PTSD. The National Center for Traumatic
Stress and Resilience at Tel Aviv University found that five
to eight percent of combat soldiers experience some form of
PTSD, and during wartime, that figure rises to 15 to 20
percent.
(F) Current treatment options in the United States focus on
cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, or eye movement
desensitization and reprocessing, but the United States must
continue to look for more effective treatments. Several
leading hospitals, academic institutions, and nonprofit
organizations in Israel dedicate research and services to
treating PTSD.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Psychological
Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program, should
seek to explore scientific collaboration between academic
institutions and nonprofit research entities in the United
States and institutions in Israel with expertise in
researching, diagnosing, and treating post-traumatic stress
disorder.
(b) Grant Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense, in coordination
with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of
State, shall award grants to eligible entities to carry out
collaborative research between the United States and Israel
with respect to post-traumatic stress disorders.
(2) Agreement.--The Secretary of Defense shall carry out
the grant program under this section in accordance with the
Agreement on the United States-Israel binational science
foundation with exchange of letters, signed at New York
September 27, 1972, and entered into force on September 27,
1972.
(c) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant
under this section, an entity shall be an academic
institution or a nonprofit entity located in the United
States.
(d) Award.--The Secretary shall award grants under this
section to eligible entities that--
(1) carry out a research project that--
(A) addresses a requirement in the area of post-traumatic
stress disorders that the Secretary determines appropriate to
research using such grant; and
(B) is conducted by the eligible entity and an entity in
Israel under a joint research agreement; and
(2) meet such other criteria that the Secretary may
establish.
(e) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an eligible entity shall submit an application
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing
such commitments and information as the Secretary may
require.
(f) Gift Authority.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may accept, hold, and
administer any gift of money made on the condition that the
gift be used for the purpose of the grant program under this
section.
(2) Deposit.--Gifts of money accepted under paragraph (1)
shall be deposited in the Treasury in the Department of
Defense General Gift Fund and shall be available, subject to
appropriation, without fiscal year limitation.
(g) Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date on
which an eligible entity completes a research project using a
grant under this section, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report that contains--
(1) a description of how the eligible entity used the
grant; and
(2) an evaluation of the level of success of the research
project.
(h) Termination.--The authority to award grants under this
section shall terminate on the date that is seven years after
the date on which the first such grant is awarded.
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