[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3208-S3209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2296. Mr. MORAN (for Mr. Kelly (for himself and Mr. Cotton)) 
proposed an amendment to the bill S. 201, to provide for a study by the 
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the 
prevalence and mortality of cancer among individuals who served as 
active duty aircrew in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes; as 
follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``ACES Act of 2025''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND MORTALITY 
                   OF CANCER AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED AS 
                   ACTIVE DUTY AIRCREW IN THE ARMED FORCES.

       (a) Agreement.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 30 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 (in this 
     section referred to as the ``National Academies''), under 
     which the National Academies shall conduct a study on the 
     prevalence and mortality of cancers among covered 
     individuals.
       (2) Deadline.--
       (A) Date.--The Secretary shall finalize the agreement under 
     paragraph (1) by not later than 60 days after the date on 
     which the Secretary enters negotiations with the National 
     Academies with respect to such agreement.
       (B) Report; briefings.--If the Secretary fails to satisfy 
     the requirement under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall--
       (i) submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives a report that includes--

       (I) an explanation of the reasons the Secretary failed to 
     satisfy such requirement; and
       (II) an estimate of the date on which the Secretary will 
     finalize the agreement under paragraph (1); and

       (ii) not less frequently than once every 60 days after the 
     date on which the Secretary failed to satisfy such 
     requirement, provide to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
     the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
     House of Representatives a briefing on the progress of the 
     Secretary toward finalizing such agreement.
       (b) Study.--The study required under subsection (a) shall--

[[Page S3209]]

       (1) identify exposures associated with military occupations 
     of covered individuals, including relating to chemicals, 
     compounds, agents, and other phenomena;
       (2) review the literature to determine associations between 
     exposures referred to in paragraph (1) and the incidence or 
     prevalence of overall cancer morbidity, overall cancer 
     mortality, and increased incidence or prevalence of--
       (A) brain cancer;
       (B) colon and rectal cancers;
       (C) kidney cancer;
       (D) lung cancer;
       (E) melanoma skin cancer;
       (F) non-Hodgkin lymphoma;
       (G) pancreatic cancer;
       (H) prostate cancer;
       (I) testicular cancer;
       (J) thyroid cancer;
       (K) urinary bladder cancer; and
       (L) other cancers as determined appropriate by the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the 
     National Academies; and
       (3) determine, to the extent possible, the prevalence of 
     and mortality from the cancers specified in paragraph (2) 
     among covered individuals by using available sources of data, 
     which may include--
       (A) health care and other administrative databases of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, 
     and the individual Services, respectively;
       (B) the national death index maintained by the National 
     Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease 
     Control and Prevention; and
       (C) 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).
       (c) Report.--At the conclusion of the study required under 
     subsection (a), the National Academies shall submit to the 
     Secretary, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, 
     and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives a report containing the results of the study 
     described in subsection (b).
       (d) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``covered individual'' means an individual who served on 
     active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps as 
     an aircrew member of a fixed-wing aircraft, including as a 
     pilot, navigator, weapons systems operator, aircraft system 
     operator, or any other crew member who regularly flew in a 
     fixed-wing aircraft.

                          ____________________