I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4734
To establish a National Center for Military Deployment Health Research
to provide an independent means for the conduct and coordination of
research into issues relating to the deployment of members of the Armed
Forces overseas, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 23, 2000
Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. PASCRELL) 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 provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a National Center for Military Deployment
Health Research to provide an independent means for
the conduct and coordination of research into issues re-
lating to the deployment of members of the Armed
Forces overseas, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Deployment
Health Research Act of 2000’’.
TITLE 
I—NATIONAL 
CENTER
FOR MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
HEALTH RESEARCH.
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex-
ecutive branch of the Government an agency to be known
as the National Center for Military Deployment Health
Research (hereinafter in this title referred to as the ‘‘Cen-
ter’’). The Center shall, in accordance with this title, co-
ordinate and conduct private and public research on de-
ployment-related health issues of members of the Armed
Forces, veterans, and their families.
(b) REPORTING.—(1) The Center shall be under the
auspices of, and shall report to, the Military and Veterans
Health Coordinating Board established on November 11,
1998, by Presidential Review Directive 5.
(2) The provisions of that directive as in effect on
the date of the enactment of this Act shall remain in effect
unless changed by law.
(3) The Research Working Group of that Board, as
in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, shall
be disestablished, and the functions of that group shall
be assumed by the Center.
SEC. 102. GOVERNING BOARD.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GOVERNING BOARD.—The
Center shall be under the direction of a Governing Board.
The Governing Board shall consist of 21 members, ap-
pointed as follows:
(1) Twelve members appointed by the Presi-
dent, of whom—
(A) six shall be appointed from persons
who, by reason of training, experience, and edu-
cation, have qualifications in the fields of re-
search to be considered by the Board; and
(B) six shall be appointed from the general
population, including persons representing the
interests of veterans and their families and the
general public.
(2) Three members appointed by the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs from officers and employees of
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(3) Three members appointed by the Secretary
of Defense from officers and employees of the De-
partment of Defense and members of the Armed
Forces.
(4) Three members appointed by the Secretary
of Health and Human Services from officers and
employees of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS
BY
INDEPENDENT
SCI-
ENTIFIC ENTITY.—The President shall designate an inde-
pendent scientific entity to make recommendations for ap-
pointments under paragraph (1) of subsection (a). When
making such recommendations, the entity shall rec-
ommend twice the number of candidates as there are posi-
tions available.
(c) TERMS.—Persons appointed to the Governing
Board under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall serve
for a term of three years, except that, of the persons ini-
tially appointed—
(1) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(A), two shall
be appointed for a term of one year, and two shall
be appointed for a term of two years;
(2) pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B), two shall
be appointed for a term of one year, and two shall
be appointed for a term of two years;
(3) pursuant to subsection (a)(2), one shall be
appointed for a term of one year, and one shall be
appointed for a term of two years;
(4) pursuant to subsection (a)(3), one shall be
appointed for a term of one year, and one shall be
appointed for a term of two years; and
(5) pursuant to subsection (a)(4), one shall be
appointed for a term of one year, and one shall be
appointed for a term of two years.
(d) PAY.—Persons appointed to the Governing Board
under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall receive pay
at the rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Execu-
tive Schedule. Persons appointed to the Governing Board
under paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (a) shall
receive no additional compensation by reason of service on
the board.
(e) CHAIR OF THE GOVERNING BOARD.—The Presi-
dent shall designate one of the members of the Governing
Board to chair the Board.
(f) MEETINGS.—The Governing Board shall meet on
the call of the chair of the Board or a majority of the
members of the Board.
(g) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Governing
Board shall be as follows:
(1) Development of a coordinated research
agenda.
(2) Commissioning of new research.
(3) Creation of policies for the conduct and dis-
semination of research by the Center, other Federal
entities, and non-Federal entities in matters relating
to deployment-related health issues of members of
the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families, in-
cluding policies to minimize research duplication.
(4) Evaluation of the results of research de-
scribed in paragraph (3).
(5) Development of policy recommendations
that emerge from that research.
(6) Communication of the results of the re-
search described in paragraph (3) to the medical
community and patients with deployment-related
health issues.
(h) DIRECTOR.—The Governing Board shall select a
Director for the Center, who shall receive pay at the rate
of basic pay payable for level III of the Executive Sched-
ule.
SEC. 103. RESEARCH NETWORK.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall coordinate and
conduct research activities relating to deployment-related
health issues of members of the Armed Forces, veterans,
and their families. The Center’s research activities shall
include (1) activities with respect to Federal research pro-
grams, and (2) Center-initiated research.
(b) FEDERAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS.—(1) The Cen-
ter shall conduct and maintain an inventory of research
programs relating to deployment-related health issues car-
ried out by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, and other Federal officials.
(2) The Center shall consult with, and seek the advice
of, other federally sponsored researchers (both intramural
and extramural) in developing the Center’s research agen-
da.
(c) CENTER-INITIATED RESEARCH.—(1) The Center
shall conduct a broad-based research program into deploy-
ment-related health issues. As part of that program, the
Center may, from funds appropriated for that purpose,
make grants for research into deployment-related health
issues. Any such grant shall be made based upon issuance
of a Request for Applications or a Request for Proposals.
Applications and proposals shall be assessed through a
peer-review process, which shall, to the extent possible, be
carried out by the National Institutes of Health.
(2) In conducting such research, the Center shall so-
licit proposals from other Federal agencies, from univer-
sities, and from other research sites.
(3) In awarding contracts for research, the Center
shall seek to establish a network of research sites at aca-
demic medical centers, university-wide research facilities,
and other appropriate sources.
(d) CORE RESEARCH PRINCIPLES.—Center-initiated
research shall be conducted using the following core set
of principles:
(1) Use of a scientific peer-review process for
all research.
(2) Dissemination of research results to the sci-
entific community through conventional venues of
scientific communication.
(3) Encouragement of interagency, interdepart-
mental, and Federal-academic collaboration.
SEC. 104. CORE FUNCTIONS.
The Center shall carry out the following core func-
tions:
(1) Research coordination and setting of prior-
ities.
(2) Synthesis of research for the purpose of de-
veloping policy recommendations.
(3) Review and analysis of longitudinal moni-
toring of deployment-related health of veterans.
(4) Facilitating the use of national data re-
sources for research activities relating to deploy-
ment-related health issues.
(5) Communication of the results of such re-
search activities to the medical community and pa-
tients with deployment-related health issues.
SEC. 105. ANNUAL REPORT; BUDGET.
(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Governing Board for the
Center shall submit to Congress an annual report on the
activities of the Center. The report shall include—
(1) a description of the activities of the Center
during the preceding year; and
(2) a detailed description of the proposed budg-
et for the Center for the next fiscal year.
(b) BUDGET.—Funds shall be provided for the Cen-
ter for each fiscal year in a discrete appropriation.
Amounts appropriated for the Center for the core func-
tions of the Center and for Center-initiated research shall
be set forth separately.
SEC. 106. DEPLOYMENT-RELATED HEALTH ISSUES DE-
FINED.
For purposes of this title, the term ‘‘deployment-re-
lated health issues’’ includes the following:
(1) Issues relating to injuries and illnesses to
members of the Armed Forces during deployment
resulting from combat, training, infectious diseases,
and environmental exposures.
(2) Conditions that emerge during or following
deployment, including—
(A) diagnosable conditions;
(B) medically unexplained symptoms (both
physical and mental);
(C) effects on health-related quality of life;
(D) family impacts; and
(E) sequelae of combat injuries.
(3) Conditions arising from inoculations before
deployment that are intended to provide protection
from conditions that could be encountered during
deployment.
TITLE 
II—CENTERS 
FOR 
RE-
SEARCH 
ON 
POST-DEPLOY-
MENT ILLNESSES IN DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 73 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘§ 7323. Centers for research on post-deployment ill-
nesses
‘‘(a) The Secretary shall establish and operate cen-
ters for research, education, and clinical activities related
to post-deployment illnesses. Such centers shall be known
as ‘National Centers for Military Post-Deployment Illness
Research’. Such centers shall be established and operated
by collaborating Department facilities as provided in sub-
section (c)(1).
‘‘(2) For purposes of this section and section 7324
of this title, the term ‘post-deployment illness’ means any
health condition being currently studied or that will be
studied that has (or that may have) an association to or
relation to a military deployment mission, including a
peacekeeping mission.
‘‘(3) Each such center shall function as a center for—
‘‘(A) research on post-deployment illnesses;
‘‘(B) the use by the Department of specific models
for furnishing services to treat post-deployment ill-
nesses;
‘‘(C) education and training of health-care profes-
sionals of the Department; and
‘‘(D) the development and implementation of in-
novative clinical activities and systems of care with
respect to the delivery of such services by the De-
partment.
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall provide for the research con-
ducted by such centers to be compiled and transmitted to
a centrally located coordinating center.
‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary shall, upon the recommendation
of the Under Secretary for Health, the Secretary of De-
fense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
designate not more than 25 centers under this section. In
making such designations, the Secretary shall ensure that
the centers designated are located in various geographic
regions of the United States.
(2) The authority of the Secretary to establish and oper-
ate centers under this section is subject to the appropria-
tion of funds for that purpose.
‘‘(c) The Secretary may not designate a health-care
facility as a location for a center under subsection (a) un-
less the peer review panel established under subsection (d)
has determined under that subsection that the proposal
submitted by such facility as a location for a new center
under subsection (a) is among those proposals which have
met the highest competitive standards of scientific and
clinical merit, and the Secretary (upon the recommenda-
tion of the Under Secretary for Health) determines that
the facility has (or may reasonably be anticipated to de-
velop) each of the following:
‘‘(1) An arrangement with an accredited med-
ical school which provides education and training in
post-deployment illnesses and with which such facil-
ity is affiliated under which residents receive edu-
cation and training in post-deployment illnesses.
‘‘(2) An arrangement under which nursing or
allied health personnel receive training and edu-
cation in post-deployment illnesses.
‘‘(3) The ability to attract the participation of
scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity
in health-care research efforts.
‘‘(4) A policymaking advisory committee com-
posed of appropriate health-care and research rep-
resentatives of the facility and of the affiliated
school or schools to advise the directors of such fa-
cility and such center on policy matters pertaining to
the activities of such center during the period of the
operation of such center.
‘‘(5) The capability to conduct effectively eval-
uations of the activities of such center.
‘‘(d)(1) In order to provide advice to assist the Sec-
retary and the Under Secretary for Health in carrying out
their responsibilities under this section, the Under Sec-
retary shall establish a panel to assess the scientific and
clinical merit of proposals that are submitted to the Sec-
retary for the establishment of new centers under this sec-
tion.
‘‘(2) The membership of the panel shall consist of ex-
perts in the fields of post-deployment illnesses research,
education, and clinical care. Members of the panel shall
serve as consultants to the Department for a period of
no longer than six months.
‘‘(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted
to the panel by the Under Secretary and shall submit its
views on the relative scientific and clinical merit of each
such proposal to the Under Secretary.
‘‘(4) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal
Advisory Committee Act.
‘‘(e) There are authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary for the support of the research,
treatment, and education activities of the centers estab-
lished pursuant to subsection (a). The Under Secretary
for Health shall allocate to such centers from other funds
appropriated generally for the Department medical care
account and medical and prosthetics research account, as
appropriate, such amounts as the Under Secretary for
Health determines appropriate.
‘‘(f) Activities of clinical and scientific investigation
at each center established under subsection (a) shall be
eligible to compete for the award of funding from funds
appropriated for the Department medical and prosthetics
research account and shall receive priority in the award
of funding from such account insofar as funds are award-
ed to projects for research in post-deployment illnesses.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by adding at the end the following
new item:
‘‘7323. Centers for research on post-deployment illnesses.’’.
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