II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4838 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to carry out a grant program to increase 

cooperation on post-traumatic stress disorder research between the 

United States and Israel. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 21 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to carry out a grant 

program to increase cooperation on post-traumatic stress 

disorder research between the United States and Israel. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 PTSD Collaborative Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports 

9 that between 11 and 20 percent of veterans who 


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1 served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 

2 Enduring Freedom have post-traumatic stress dis3 order (PTSD) in a given year. In addition, that fig4 ure amounts to about 12 percent of Gulf War vet5 erans and up to 30 percent of Vietnam veterans. 

6 (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports 

7 that among women veterans of the conflicts in Iraq 

8 and Afghanistan, almost 20 percent have been diag9 nosed with PTSD. 

10 (3) In the United States, it is thought that 70 

11 percent of Americans have experienced at least one 

12 traumatic event in their lifetime, and approximately 

13 20 percent of those persons have struggled or con14 tinue to struggle with symptoms of PTSD. 

15 (4) Studies show that PTSD has links to home16 lessness and substance abuse in the United States. 

17 The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 

18 approximately 11 percent of the homeless population 

19 are veterans and the Substance Abuse and Mental 

20 Health Services Administration estimates that about 

21 7 percent of veterans have a substance abuse dis22 order. 

23 (5) Our ally Israel, under constant attack from 

24 terrorist groups, experiences similar issues with 

25 Israeli veterans facing PTSD symptoms. Tel Aviv 


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1 University’s National Center for Traumatic Stress 

2 and Resilience found that 5 to 8 percent of combat 

3 soldiers experience some form of PTSD, and during 

4 wartime, that figure rises to 15 to 20 percent. 

5 (6) Current treatment options in the United 

6 States focus on cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, 

7 or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, 

8 but the United States must continue to look for 

9 more effective treatments. Several leading Israeli 

10 hospitals, academic institutions, and nonprofits dedi11 cate research and services to treating PTSD. 

12 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR INCREASED COOPERATION 

13 ON POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER RE14 SEARCH BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND 

15 ISRAEL. 

16 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 

18 Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Re19 search Program, should seek to explore scientific collabo20 ration between American academic institutions and non21 profit research entities, and Israeli institutions with exper22 tise in researching, diagnosing, and treating post-trau23 matic stress disorder. 

24 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

25 coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and 


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1 the Secretary of State, shall award grants to eligible enti2 ties to carry out collaborative research between the United 

3 States and Israel with respect to post-traumatic stress dis4 orders. The Secretary of Defense shall carry out the grant 

5 program under this section in accordance with the agree6 ment titled ‘‘Agreement Between the Government of the 

7 United States of America and the Government of Israel 

8 on the United States-Israel Binational Science Founda9 tion’’, dated September 27, 1972. 

10 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 

11 grant under this section, an entity shall be an academic 

12 institution or a nonprofit entity located in the United 

13 States. 

14 (d) AWARD.—The Secretary shall award grants 

15 under this section to eligible entities that— 

16 (1) carry out a research project that— 

17 (A) addresses a requirement in the area of 

18 post-traumatic stress disorders that the Sec19 retary determines appropriate to research using 

20 such grant; and 

21 (B) is conducted by the eligible entity and 

22 an entity in Israel under a joint research agree23 ment; and 

24 (2) meet such other criteria that the Secretary 

25 may establish. 


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1 (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli3 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

4 containing such commitments and information as the Sec5 retary may require. 

6 (f) GIFT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may accept, 

7 hold, and administer, any gift of money made on the con8 dition that the gift be used for the purpose of the grant 

9 program under this section. Such gifts of money accepted 

10 under this subsection shall be deposited in the Treasury 

11 in the Department of Defense General Gift Fund and shall 

12 be available, subject to appropriation, without fiscal year 

13 limitation. 

14 (g) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date on which an eligible entity completes a research 

16 project using a grant under this section, the Secretary 

17 shall submit to Congress a report that contains— 

18 (1) a description of how the eligible entity used 

19 the grant; and 

20 (2) an evaluation of the level of success of the 

21 research project. 

22 (h) TERMINATION.—The authority to award grants 

23 under this section shall terminate on the date that is 7 


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1 years after the date on which the first such grant is 

2 awarded. 

Æ 


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