Aces Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: S. 201
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 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--
(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.
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Mr. BOST. 201.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 201. The bill was introduced by Senators Kelly and Cotton, and the House version was introduced by my friend and fellow Representative, Mr. Pfluger.
The bill would ensure that there is trusted medical research available to pave the way for toxic-exposed military pilots and aircrew to access their VA disability compensation benefits.
Colonel Andrew Shurtleff, who testified before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs in March, was one of these veterans. He served our country as an Air Force fighter pilot for 23 years, flying over 1,800 hours.
The colonel began his career flying the F-15C Eagle and was chosen as one of the first F-22 Raptor instructors. I am told that one of his proudest achievements was serving as the 325th Operational Support Squadron commander at Tyndall Air Force Base, supporting Operation Northern Watch.
Colonel Shurtleff started fighting stage IV cancer in 2019 at just 41 years old and, unfortunately, passed away on May 23 at the age of 48.
My prayers are with his wife, Julie, and their family. We are forever grateful for his service to this country and to his community.
Military pilots and aircrew like Colonel Shurtleff work in tight spaces and are exposed to chemicals and toxic fumes 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. This lack of comprehensive medical research makes it hard for these military pilots and aircrew to access and earn these benefits.
Each one of those veterans must prove to VA that chemicals and toxins caused their cancer. Many had to fight the VA system for years before receiving any disability compensation, and many others never received their earned benefits before they passed away.
S. 201 would require the National Academies to conduct a study on whether the cancers suffered by military pilots and aircrew are related to their chemical and toxic exposures.
VA needs robust medical research to streamline military aircrew veterans' access to disability compensation, and VA needs it fast for today's and tomorrow's veterans.
This bill ensures that research gets done and that our military pilots and aircrew get the answers they deserve.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 201, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, understand that we at the committee have hearings and will continue to have hearings on things like this many times. We will take the ranking member's comments under advisement. We will set the agenda and figure out what we will have hearings on and what we won't. I appreciate the request. This is why we have these types of hearings, and that is why we have this legislation here today.
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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