service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during
the Persian Gulf War, and (2) to be useful in the develop-
ment of case assessment protocols or case definitions.
(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to
the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and
House of Representatives an annual report containing—
(1) the information compiled in accordance with
subsection (b);
(2) the Secretary’s analysis of such information;
(3) a discussion of the incidence of illnesses
identified or treated by the Department of Veterans
Affairs in the case of veterans referred to in sub-
section (b); and
(4) the Secretary’s explanation for the incidence
of such illnesses and disabilities.
SEC. 8. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH.
(a) CONTRACT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall enter into a contract for the conduct of an epidemio-
logical study designed to assess both the short- and long-
term health consequences of service in the Southwest Asia
theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War on vet-
erans of the Persian Gulf War and their immediate family
members.
(b) OVERSIGHT.—(1) The Secretary shall seek to
enter into an agreement with the National Academy of
Sciences for the Medical Follow-Up Agency (MFUA) of
the Institute of Medicine of the Academy for (A) the re-
view of proposals to conduct the research specified in sub-
section (a), (B) oversight of such research, and (C) review
of the research findings.
(2) If the Secretary is unable to enter into an agree-
ment under paragraph (1) with the entity specified in that
paragraph, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement de-
scribed in that paragraph with another appropriate sci-
entific organization which does not have a connection to
the Department of Veterans Affairs. In such a case, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives, at least
90 days before the date on which the agreement is entered
into, notice in writing identifying the organization with
which the Secretary intends to enter into the agreement.
(c) ACCESS TO DATA.—The Secretary shall enter into
agreements with the Secretary of Defense and the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services to access and make
available to the contractor under subsection (a) all data
that the Secretary, in consultation with the National
Academy of Sciences and the contractor, considers rel-
evant to the study.
(d) STATUS REPORT.—Within 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate
and House of Representatives a report on the status of
the contract specified in subsection (a).
(e) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Department $7,500,000 for each of fis-
cal years 1995 through 2000 for the conduct of the re-
search specified in subsection (a). In addition to amounts
for such research appropriated pursuant to the preceding
sentence, the Secretary may provide funds for such re-
search from any funds appropriated for any fiscal year
after fiscal year 1994 for the purpose of research spon-
sored by the Department.
(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—For each year of the study,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’
Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a re-
port accompanying the budget for that year containing—
(1) the methodology and status of the study
specified in subsection (a); and
(2) any preliminary analyses of the information
compiled in accordance with subsection (a), includ-
ing that provided by the National Academy of
Sciences.
(g) FINAL REPORT.—At the conclusion of the study,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’
Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a re-
port accompanying the budget containing—
(1) the methodology of the study specified in
subsection (a);
(2) the analysis of the information compiled in
accordance with subsection (a), including that pro-
vided by the National Academy of Sciences;
(3) a discussion of incidence of illnesses ob-
served in veterans of the Persian Gulf War and their
families;
(4) the National Academy of Sciences conclu-
sions concerning the health consequences of service
in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during
the Persian Gulf War on veterans and their imme-
diate family members; and
(5) the Secretary’s explanation for the incidence
of such illnesses and disabilities and recommenda-
tions for future action.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION FOR OTHER RESEARCH.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs $5,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 1995 through 1998 for the conduct of research
which the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
Defense and the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
determines could advance understanding of health risks
and effects of service during the Persian Gulf War and
the means of treating those health effects.
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