II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1680 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance recordkeeping with respect 

to exposure by members of the Armed Forces to certain occupational 

and environmental hazards while deployed overseas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance recordkeeping with respect to exposure by members of the 

Armed Forces to certain occupational and environmental 

hazards while deployed overseas, 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 ‘‘Service Member’s Oc5 cupational and Environmental Transparency Health Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘OATH Act’’. 


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•S 1680 IS

1 SEC. 2. INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE ADDED TO MED2 ICAL RECORDS OF CERTAIN MEMBERS OF 

3 THE ARMED FORCES. 

4 (a) OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

5 RISKS IN DEPLOYMENT AREA.— 

6 (1) ELEMENTS OF MEDICAL TRACKING SYS7 TEM.—Subsection (b)(1)(A) of section 1074f of title 

8 10, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

14 clause: 

15 ‘‘(iv) accurately record any exposure to oc16 cupational and environmental health risks dur17 ing the course of their deployment.’’. 

18 (2) RECORDKEEPING.—Subsection (c) of such 

19 section is amended by inserting after ‘‘deployment 

20 area’’ the following: ‘‘(including the results of any 

21 assessment performed by the Secretary of occupa22 tional and environmental health risks for such 

23 area)’’. 

24 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

25 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 

26 enactment of this subsection. 


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1 (b) BURN PIT REGISTRY.— 

2 (1) UPDATES TO ELECTRONIC HEALTH

3 RECORDS.—Beginning not later than one year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act— 

5 (A) the Secretary of Defense shall ensure 

6 that the electronic health record maintained by 

7 such Secretary of a member of the Armed 

8 Forces registered with the burn pit registry is 

9 updated with any information contained in such 

10 registry; and 

11 (B) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

12 ensure that the electronic health record main13 tained by such Secretary of a veteran registered 

14 with the burn pit registry is updated with any 

15 information contained in such registry. 

16 (2) BURN PIT REGISTRY DEFINED.—In this 

17 subsection, the term ‘‘burn pit registry’’ means the 

18 registry established under section 201 of the Dig19 nified Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improve20 ment Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 

21 527 note). 


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•S 1680 IS

1 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR POSTDEPLOY2 MENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND HEALTH 

3 REASSESSMENTS. 

4 (a) POSTDEPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND

5 REASSESSMENTS.—Section 1074f of title 10, United 

6 States Code, as amended by section 2, is further amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 POSTDEPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS AND

10 HEALTH REASSESSMENTS.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) standardize and make available to a pro13 vider that conducts a postdeployment medical exam14 ination or reassessment under the system described 

15 in subsection (a) questions relating to occupational 

16 and environmental health exposure; and 

17 ‘‘(B) prior to an examination or reassessment 

18 of a member of the armed forces, require such pro19 vider to review information applicable to such mem20 ber— 

21 ‘‘(i) in a Periodic Occupational and Envi22 ronmental Monitoring Summary (or any suc23 cessor document); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) on the Defense Occupational and En25 vironmental Health Readiness System (or any 

26 successor system). 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the medical 

2 record of a member includes information on the external 

3 cause relating to a diagnosis of the member, including by 

4 associating an external cause code (as issued under the 

5 International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Re6 lated Health Problems, 10th Revision (or any successor 

7 revision)).’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this section. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

12 UNITED STATES. 

13 (a) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall submit to the congressional de16 fense committees, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

17 the Senate, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

18 House of Representatives a report containing an evalua19 tion of the implementation of this Act (and the amend20 ments made by this Act), including an assessment of the 

21 extent to which the Secretary of Defense and Secretary 

22 of Veterans Affairs are in compliance with the applicable 

23 requirements of this Act (and the amendments made by 

24 this Act). 


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1 (b) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional defense 

3 committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

4 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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