,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #djdc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #bc1 #bjbj,mrs4 ,feinstein 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,cornyn1 ,ms4 ,cortez ,masto1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,markey1 and ,ms4 ,rosen7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,secretary of ,defense to develop a comprehensive database and repository on military aviators and conduct a study on such aviators to determine the incidence of cancer diagnosis and mortality among such aviators1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,military ,aviators ,cancer ,incidence ,study ,act4 #b4 ,database on military aviators and study on the incidence of cancer diagnosis and mortality among military aviators 7a7 ,findings ,congress makes the following findings3 7#a7 ,it has been reported that the prevalence of cancer is particularly high among military aviators1 particularly among fighter pilots in the ,air ,force1 ,navy1 and ,marine ,corps4 7#b7 ,there have been several alarming clusters of cancer diagnoses at military installations1 including at ,naval ,air ,weapons ,station ,china ,lake in ,california and ,seymour ,johnson ,air ,force ,base in ,north ,carolina4 7#c7 ,four commanding officers who served at ,naval ,air ,weapons ,station ,china ,lake have died of cancer4 ,each officer had completed thousands of flight hours in advanced jets4 7#d7 ,according to a study by the ,air ,force in #bjjh titled ,cancer in ,fighters1 six pilots and weapons systems officers for the ,f-#ae;,e ,strike ,eagle at ,seymour ,johnson ,air ,force ,base1 aged #cc to #dc1 were diagnosed with forms of urogenital cancers between #bjjb and #bjje4 ,each officer had completed at least #b1ajj flight hours4 7#e7 ,a study by the ,air ,force in #bjaj reported on a cluster of seven members of the ,air ,force ,special ,operations ,command diagnosed with brain cancer among crew members of the ,c-#acj between #bjjf and #bjji4 ,the individuals affected were three ,c-#acj pilots1 two flight engineers1 one loadmaster1 and one navigator assigned to different installations around the world4 ,overall1 brain cancer affects approximately #f4e out of #ajj1jjj people in the ,united ,states annually4 7#f7 ,there has been no comprehensive study conducted of cancer rates among military aviators4 7#g7 ,one challenge of extracting findings from previous studies by the ,navy or the ,air ,force on cancer rates is that each study focused on pilots who are active duty members of the ,armed ,forces and did not include the medical records of former pilots who are veterans1 which is the population in which cancer is surfacing4 7#h7 ,members of the ,armed ,forces who serve full military careers are not likely to be counted in data captured by the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs4 ,members who serve #bj years or more are eligible for health care under the ,,tricare program1 which is managed by the ,department of ,defense4 ,also1 many members pursue private sector jobs after separating from the ,armed ,forces and receive health care outside of the ,federal ,government4 ,those factors have made it difficult to find statistics to back up the health issues that families of military aviators are experiencing4 7b7 ,database 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #fj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall seek to enter into an agreement with the ,national ,institutes of ,health1 the ,national ,cancer ,institute1 and the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 under which the ,secretary of ,defense shall develop a comprehensive database and repository-- 7,a7 identifying each military aviator2 and 7,b7 documenting the cancers1 date of diagnosis1 and mortality of all such military aviators4 7#b7 ,data ,the ,secretary of ,defense shall format all data included in the database and repository under paragraph 7#a7 in accordance with the ,surveillance1 ,epidemiology1 and ,end ,results program of the ,national ,cancer ,institute1 including by disaggregating such data by race1 gender1 and age4 7c7 ,study 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of ,defense1 in conjunction with the ,national ,institutes of ,health and the ,national ,cancer ,institute1 shall conduct a study on cancer among military aviators in two phases as provided in this subsection4 7#b7 ,phase #a 7,a7 ,in general ,under the initial phase of the study conducted under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary of ,defense shall determine if there is a higher incidence of cancers occurring for military aviators as compared to similar age groups in the general population through the use of the database of the ,surveillance1 ,epidemiology1 and ,end ,results program of the ,national ,cancer ,institute4 7,b7 ,report ,not later than one year after the date on which the ,secretary of ,defense enters into the agreement under subsection 7b77#a71 the ,secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of ,congress a report on the findings of the initial phase of the study under subparagraph 7,a74 7#c7 ,phase #b 7,a7 ,in general ,if1 pursuant to the initial phase of the study under paragraph 7#b71 the ,secretary concludes that there is an increased rate of cancers among military aviators1 the ,secretary shall conduct a second phase of the study under which the ,secretary shall do the following3 7i7 ,identify the carcinogenic toxins or hazardous materials associated with military flight operations from shipboard or land bases or facilities1 such as fuels1 fumes1 and other liquids4 7ii7 ,identify the operating environments1 including frequencies or electromagnetic fields1 where exposure to ionizing radiation 7associated with high altitude flight7 and nonionizing radiation 7associated with airborne1 ground1 and shipboard radars7 occurred in which military aviators could have received increased radiation amounts4 7iii7 ,identify1 for each military aviator1 duty stations1 dates of service1 aircraft flown1 and additional duties 7such as ,landing ,safety ,officer1 ,catapult and ,arresting ,gear ,officer1 ,air ,liaison ,officer1 or ,tactical ,air ,control ,party7 that could have increased the risk of cancer for such military aviator4 7iv7 ,determine locations where a military aviator served or additional duties of a military aviator that are associated with higher incidences of cancers4 7v7 ,identify potential exposures due to service in the ,armed ,forces that are not related to aviation1 such as exposure to burn pits or toxins in contaminated water1 embedded in the soil1 or inside bases or housing4 7vi7 ,determine the appropriate age to begin screening military aviators for cancer based on race1 gender1 flying hours1 ,armed ,force1 type of aircraft1 and mission4 7,b7 ,data ,the ,secretary shall format all data included in the study conducted under this paragraph in accordance with the ,surveillance1 ,epidemiology1 and ,end ,results program of the ,national ,cancer ,institute1 including by disaggregating such data by race1 gender1 and age4 7,c7 ,report ,not later than one year after the submittal of the report under paragraph 7#b77;,b71 if the ,secretary conducts the second phase of the study under this paragraph1 the ,secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of ,congress a report on the findings of the study conducted under this paragraph4 7#d7 ,use of data from previous studies ,in conducting the study under this subsection1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall incorporate data from previous studies conducted by the ,air ,force1 the ,navy1 or the ,marine ,corps that are relevant to the study under this subsection1 including data from the comprehensive study conducted by the ,air ,force identifying each military aviator and documenting the cancers1 dates of diagnoses1 and mortality of each military aviator4 7d7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,appropriate committee of ,congress ,the term appropriate committees of ,congress means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,armed ,services and the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,armed ,services and the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of ,representatives4 7#b7 ,armed ,forces ,the term ,armed ,forces-- 7,a7 has the meaning given the term armed forces in section #aja of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code2 and 7,b7 includes the reserve components named in section #ajaja of such title4 7#c7 ,military aviator ,the term military aviator-- 7,a7 means an aviator who served in the ,armed ,forces on or after ,february #bh1 #aifa2 and 7,b7 includes any air crew member of fixed-wing aircraft1 including pilots1 navigators1 weapons systems operators1 aircraft system operators1 and any other crew member who regularly flies in an aircraft or is required to complete the mission of the aircraft4