Aces Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 530) 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 amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 530
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 ``ACES Act''. 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 Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate 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 Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a briefing on the progress of the Secretary toward finalizing such agreement.
(b) Study.--The study required under subsection (a) shall--
(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) testiscular 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 and to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate 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. SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF PENSION.
Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``November 30, 2031'' and inserting ``December 31, 2031''.
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Mr. BERGMAN. 530, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 530, as amended. The bill was introduced by my friend and fellow veteran, Representative Pfluger. This bill would ensure there is trusted medical research available to pave the way for toxic-exposed military pilots and air crew to assess their VA disability compensation benefits.
As someone who served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, I am troubled by how many times I have heard from my fellow aviators that military pilots and air crewmen appear to be diagnosed with cancer at much higher rates than civilians.
Colonel Andrew Shurtleff, who testified before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee in March, is one of those veterans. He served our country as an Air Force fighter pilot, and he started fighting stage IV cancer in 2019 when he was just 41 years old. My prayers are with him as he continues to battle cancer, and I wish him the very best.
Military pilots and air crewmen across the service branches, like Colonel Shurtleff, are exposed to chemicals and toxic fumes in confined spaces every time they fly a mission. However, there is not enough medical research available for VA to simply presume that their cancers are related to those exposures. That makes it much harder for them to access their earned VA benefits. Each one of those veterans has to prove to the VA that chemicals and toxins caused their cancer.
Many have had to fight the VA system for years before they received any disability compensation, and many others never received their earned benefits before they passed away.
H.R. 530, as amended, would ensure that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducts a study on whether the cancers suffered by military pilots and their air crew are related to their chemical and toxic exposures.
The VA needs robust medical research to streamline military air crew veterans' access to disability compensation, and VA needs it fast, for today and tomorrow's veterans. My friend from Texas' bill would ensure that research gets done and that our military pilots and air crewmen get the answers they deserve.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support H.R.
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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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