I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5166

To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the Armed 

Forces to receive the anthrax and smallpox immunizations without their 

consent, to correct the records of servicemembers previously punished 

for refusing to take these vaccines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2004

Mr. SHAYS (for himself and Mr. TOWNS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the Armed Forces to receive the anthrax and 

smallpox immunizations without their consent, to correct 

the records of servicemembers previously punished for 

refusing to take these vaccines, 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 ‘‘Armed Forces Voluntary 

5 Immunization and Heath Justice Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CONSENT OF SERVICEMEMBER REQUIRED FOR 

2 SMALLPOX AND ANTHRAX IMMUNIZATIONS. 

3 (a) SMALLPOX VACCINE IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM.—

4 A member of the Armed Forces may not be required to 

5 participate in the smallpox vaccine immunization program 

6 of the Department of Defense. A smallpox immunization 

7 vaccination may not be administered to any such member 

8 without the informed consent of the member. 

9 (b) ANTHRAX VACCINE IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM.—

10 A member of the Armed Forces may not be required to 

11 participate in the anthrax vaccine immunization program 

12 of the Department of Defense An anthrax immunization 

13 vaccination may not be administered to any such member 

14 without the informed consent of the member. 

15 SEC. 3. CORRECTION OF RECORDS OF SERVICEMEMBERS 

16 PREVIOUSLY PUNISHED FOR REFUSAL TO 

17 TAKE SMALLPOX OR ANTHRAX VACCINE. 

18 (a) CORRECTION.—In the case of a member or 

19 former member of the Armed Forces who before the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act was subject to any form of 

21 adverse personnel action as a result of the refusal of the 

22 member or former member (while a member of the Armed 

23 Forces) to take a vaccine covered by section 2, the Sec24 retary concerned, acting through the appropriate board for 

25 the correction of military records under chapter 79 of title 

26 10, United States Code, shall, upon application, take such 
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1 actions as may be necessary to correct the military records 

2 of the member or former member so as to obviate any 

3 adverse consequences of the member or former member’s 

4 refusal to take such a vaccine. 

5 (b) TIME FOR APPLICATION.—Any period established 

6 by law or regulation for the submission of an application 

7 for correction of a military record shall be treated, for pur8 poses of an application to make a correction by reason 

9 of subsection (a), as running from the date of the enact10 ment of this Act. 

11 (c) EXPEDITING CONSIDERATION OF APPLICA12 TIONS.—The Secretary of each military department shall 

13 take such actions as may be necessary to expedite consid14 eration of applications for correction of military records 

15 under subsection (a). 

16 (d) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—In this section, the 

17 term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has the meaning given that 

18 term in section 101 of title 10, United States Code. 

19 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 

20 shall submit to the congressional committees specified in 

21 paragraph (2) an annual report on activities under this 

22 section. Each such report shall identify the number of ap23 plications received for correction of military records under 

24 this section, the basis for decisions taken on those applica-
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1 tions, and the types of actions taken with respect to those 

2 applications. 

3 (2) The congressional committees referred to in para4 graph (1) are the following: 

5 (A) The Committee on Government Reform, the 

6 Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee 

7 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa8 tives. 

9 (B) The Committee on Governmental Affairs, 

10 the Committee on Armed Services, and the Com11 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT THREAT OF ANTHRAX 

13 AND SMALLPOX ATTACKS. 

14 (a) REEVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

15 Defense shall include in the report to Congress specified 

16 in subsection (b) an assessment of the current threat of 

17 an anthrax attack or a smallpox attack on members of 

18 the Armed Forces. The assessment shall be prepared in 

19 consultation with the head of each element of the intel20 ligence community (as defined in section 3(4) of the Na21 tional Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4))). 

22 (b) ANNUAL CHEM-BIO REPORT.—The report re23 ferred to in subsection (a) is the next annual report sub24 mitted to Congress after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act under section 1703 of the National Defense Author-
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1 ization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (50 U.S.C. 1523), relat2 ing to chemical and biological warfare defense. 

3 SEC. 5. RESEARCH FUNCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF 

4 VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall—

6 (1) carry out an ongoing assessment of the ad7 verse health effects being reported by members and 

8 former members of the Armed Forces with respect 

9 to the smallpox and anthrax vaccines administered 

10 by the Department of Defense; 

11 (2) carry out a research program to determine 

12 causal relationships (if any) between such effects 

13 and those vaccines; and 

14 (3) prepare an estimate of the future cost to 

15 the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat those 

16 adverse health effects, if determined to be service17 connected. 

18 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR MILI19 TARY DEPLOYMENT HEALTH RESEARCH. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

21 a National Center for Military Deployment Health Re22 search to coordinate and synthesize research efforts by 

23 Federal departments and agencies relating to the health 

24 effects of military deployments on members of the Armed 

25 Forces, including members of the reserve components. 
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1 (b) CRITERIA.—To the maximum extent practicable, 

2 the center shall be established in a manner consistent with 

3 the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine of the 

4 National Academy of Sciences in a report dated January 

5 1, 1999, titled ‘‘National Center for Military Deployment 

6 Health Research’’. 

7 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The center shall be estab8 lished not later than 120 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act.

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