I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1273 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to study and report on the 

prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma in veterans who served in the Vietnam 

theater of operations during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. FITZPATRICK, 

Mr. POSEY, and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to study and 

report on the prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma in veterans who served in the Vietnam theater of operations 

during the Vietnam era, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Vietnam Veterans 

5 Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF 

2 CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA IN VETERANS WHO 

3 SERVED IN THE VIETNAM THEATER OF OPER4 ATIONS DURING THE VIETNAM ERA. 

5 (a) EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Director of 

8 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the De9 partment of Health and Human Services, shall commence 

10 an epidemiological study on the prevalence of 

11 cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Vietnam 

12 era, using data from the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer 

13 Registry and the National Program of Cancer Registries. 

14 The study shall— 

15 (1) identify the rate of incidence of 

16 cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Viet17 nam era and in residents of the United States, from 

18 the beginning of the Vietnam era to the date of en19 actment of this Act; and 

20 (2) for each of the groups specified in para21 graph (1), identify the percentage of individuals with 

22 cholangiocarcinoma by various demographic charac23 teristics, including by age, gender, race, ethnicity, 

24 and the geographic location of the patient at the 

25 time of diagnosis. 


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1 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 

2 after the completion of the study under subsection (a), the 

3 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing— 

4 (1) the results of the study under subsection 

5 (a); and 

6 (2) recommendations for administrative or leg7 islative actions required to address issues identified 

8 in the study under subsection (a). 

9 (c) CONTINUED TRACKING OF

10 CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA IN COVERED VETERANS OF THE

11 VIETNAM ERA.—The Secretary shall track the prevalence 

12 of cholangiocarcinoma in covered veterans of the Vietnam 

13 era using the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry, 

14 and provide such information to Congress as required 

15 under subsection (d). 

16 (d) FOLLOW-UP REPORTS.—The Secretary shall pe17 riodically submit to the Congress an updated report under 

18 subsection (b), as determined by the Secretary. 

19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

21 of Veterans Affairs. 

22 (2) The term ‘‘Vietnam era’’ has the meaning 

23 given such term in section 101 of title 38, United 

24 States Code. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘covered veterans of the Vietnam 

2 era’’ means veterans who served in the Vietnam the3 ater of operations during the Vietnam era. 

Æ 


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