Persian Gulf War Environmental Hazards Study Act

Persian Gulf War Environmental Hazards Study Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to make a grant to a medical research institution selected through established acquisition procedures for constructing and equipping a specialized environmental medical facility to study the possible health effects of exposure to volatile chemicals and the susceptibility of humans to such exposure under environmentally controlled conditions. Requires such grant funds to be obtained from FY 1994 Department of Defense research, development, test, and evaluation funds. Provides research institution selection criteria. Requires such research to focus on persons who may have been exposed to environmental hazards or chemical substances while serving on active duty on Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War.

Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the research activities.

[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2451 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2451

To provide for the establishment of a specialized environmental medical 
 unit to investigate the possible health effects of environmental and 
 chemical exposures of United States military personnel in the Persian 
              Gulf War and for related civilian purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 17, 1993

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Evans, Mr. Buyer, Mr. Gutierrez, and Mr. 
 Clement) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to 
        the Committees on Armed Services and Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the establishment of a specialized environmental medical 
 unit to investigate the possible health effects of environmental and 
 chemical exposures of United States military personnel in the Persian 
              Gulf War and for related civilian purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Persian Gulf War Environmental 
Hazards Study Act''.

SEC. 2. STARTUP GRANT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense shall make a grant in the 
amount of $950,000 to a medical research institution selected through 
established acquisition procedures for the purpose of constructing and 
equipping a specialized environmental medical facility at that 
institution with the purpose of studying the possible health effects of 
exposure to low levels of volatile organic chemicals and the individual 
susceptibility of humans to such exposure under environmentally 
controlled conditions.
    (b) Funding Source.--Funds for the grant under subsection (a) shall 
be made from amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense for 
fiscal year 1994 for research, development, test, and evaluation.
    (c) Selection Criteria.--To be eligible to be selected for a grant 
under subsection (a), an institution--
            (1) must be affiliated with an accredited hospital and be 
        affiliated with, and in close proximity to, a Department of 
        Defense medical center and a Department of Veterans Affairs 
        medical center;
            (2) must enter into an agreement with the Secretary of 
        Defense to ensure that research personnel of those affiliated 
        medical facilities and other relevant Federal personnel may 
        have access to the facility to carry out research;
            (3) must have demonstrated potential or ability to ensure 
        the participation of scientific personnel with expertise in 
        research on possible chemical sensitivities to low-level 
        exposure to volatile organic chemicals and other substances; 
        and
            (4) must have immediate access to sophisticated 
        physiological imaging (including functional brain imaging) and 
        other innovative research technology that could better define 
        the possible health effects of low-level exposure to volatile 
        organic chemicals and other substances and lead to new 
        therapies.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    Research to be conducted at the facility for which a grant is made 
under section 2 shall explore, in an environmentally controlled 
setting, the health effects in humans of exposure to low levels of 
volatile organic chemicals and other substances and the individual 
susceptibility of humans to such exposure. Such research shall focus on 
(but shall not be limited to) persons who, while serving on active duty 
in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operation during 
the Persian Gulf War, may have been exposed to environmental hazards or 
chemical substances (including petrochemicals, smoke from burning 
landfills or petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, or other 
chemicals or agents utilized by the Department of Defense).

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    The Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress an annual report 
on activities under this Act during the preceding year.

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