[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5664-S5665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6113. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 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. 753. STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND MORTALITY OF CANCER AMONG 
                   AIRCREW OF THE NAVY, AIR FORCE, AND MARINE 
                   CORPS.

       (a) Study.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall seek to enter into an agreement with the National 
     Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under which 
     the National Academies shall conduct a study of the 
     prevalence and mortality of cancers among covered 
     individuals.
       (b) Matters Included.--The study under subsection (a) shall 
     include the following:
       (1) Identification of chemicals, compounds, agents, and 
     other phenomena that cause elevated cancer prevalence and 
     mortality risks among covered individuals, including a nexus 
     study design to determine whether there is a scientifically 
     established link, based on scientific association, between 
     such a chemical, compound, agent, or other phenomena and such 
     cancer prevalence or mortality risk.
       (2) An assessment of not fewer than 10 types of cancer that 
     are of concern with respect to exposure by covered 
     individuals to the chemicals, compounds, agents, and other 
     phenomena identified under paragraph (1), which may include 
     colon and rectum cancers, pancreatic cancer, melanoma skin 
     cancer, prostate cancer, testis cancer, urinary bladder 
     cancer, kidney cancer, brain cancer, thyroid cancer, lung 
     cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
       (3) A review of all available sources of relevant data, 
     including health care databases of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs and the Department of Defense, the national death 
     index, and the study conducted under section 750 of the 
     William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 
     Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283; 134 Stat. 
     3716).

[[Page S5665]]

       (c) Submission.--
       (1) Study.--Upon completion of the study under subsection 
     (a), the National Academies shall submit to the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 
     the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives the study.
       (2) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2025, the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee 
     on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on 
     the study under subsection (a), including--
       (A) the specific actions the Secretary is taking to ensure 
     that the study informs the evaluation of disability claims 
     made to the Secretary, including with respect to providing 
     guidance to claims examiners and revising the schedule of 
     ratings for disabilities under chapter 11 of title 38, United 
     States Code; and
       (B) any recommendations of the Secretary.
       (3) Form.--The report under paragraph (2) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form.
       (d) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``covered individual'' means an individual who served in the 
     regular or reserve components of the Navy, Air Force, or 
     Marine Corps, including the Air National Guard, as an air 
     crew member of a fixed-wing aircraft, including pilots, 
     navigators, weapons systems operators, aircraft system 
     operators, and any other crew member who regularly flew in an 
     aircraft.
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