I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3661
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense
to give greater priority to research on the exposure of veterans of Oper-
ation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm to biological agents
or chemical weapons, other toxic agents such as depleted uranium and
organophosphates, pyridostigmine bromide, vaccines, oil well fire pollu-
tion, and other potentially hazardous substances, to require the Director
of the National Institutes of Health to monitor, through a comprehensive
database, the resulting effects of such exposure on those veterans’ health
and their clinical progress in order to identify and provide appropriate
and effective medical treatment, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 1, 1998
Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. FILNER, Mr.
QUINN, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. PETERSON
of Minnesota, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. CARSON, Mr. OLVER, Ms. RIV-
ERS, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. KENNEDY of
Rhode Island, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. TIERNEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New
York, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. ROMERO-
BARCELO´, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. FROST, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. MORAN of
Virginia, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.
RODRIGUEZ, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs,
and in addition to the Committees on National Security, and Commerce,
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 require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Sec-
retary of Defense to give greater priority to research
on the exposure of veterans of Operation Desert Shield
and Operation Desert Storm to biological agents or
chemical weapons, other toxic agents such as depleted
uranium and organophosphates, pyridostigmine bromide,
vaccines, oil well fire pollution, and other potentially haz-
ardous substances, to require the Director of the Na-
tional Institutes of Health to monitor, through a com-
prehensive database, the resulting effects of such expo-
sure on those veterans’ health and their clinical progress
in order to identify and provide appropriate and effective
medical treatment, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Persian Gulf War Veterans’ Health and Medical Re-
search Act of 1998’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Management by National Institutes of Health of research on illnesses
of Gulf War veterans.
Sec. 3. Database for tracking the health status, clinical progress, and medical
treatment of Gulf War veterans.
Sec. 4. Semiannual report on research programs.
Sec. 5. General Accounting Office annual assessment and report.
Sec. 6. Research protocol and training.
Sec. 7. Outreach.
Sec. 8. Definitions.
SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT BY NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
HEALTH OF RESEARCH ON ILLNESSES OF
GULF WAR VETERANS.
(a) NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.—The Direc-
tor of the National Institutes of Health shall establish and
manage research activities within the Department of De-
fense and Department of Veterans Affairs in order to en-
sure that a greater priority is given to—
(1) research on finding effective treatment for
ill Gulf War veterans; and
(2) research on exposure to all potentially haz-
ardous substances and diseases encountered by
members of the Armed Forces mobilized or deployed
in support of combat operations in the areas of re-
sponsibility of the United States Central Command
and the United States European Command during
the period beginning on August 2, 1990, and ending
on December 31, 1991, including (among others)
chemical 
and 
biological 
warfare 
agents,
pyridostigmine bromide, vaccinations, and any other
manmade or naturally occurring toxic substances or
disease vectors to which Gulf War veterans were ex-
posed.
(b) RESEARCH TIMETABLE.—The Director shall de-
velop a plan for the research to be carried out pursuant
to subsection (a). The Director shall begin to develop the
plan not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and shall implement the plan not later
than 60 days after the completion of the development of
the plan.
(c) IDENTIFICATION
OF SUBSTANCES
TO WHICH
VETERANS MAY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED.—Research to be
carried out pursuant to subsection (a) shall include identi-
fication of all potentially hazardous substances, natural or
manmade (including biological or chemical agents, other
toxic agents (including, among others, depleted uranium
and organophosphates), pyridostigmine bromide, and vac-
cines), to which members of the Armed Forces may have
been exposed by reason of service in the areas of respon-
sibility of the United States Central Command and the
United States European Command during the period be-
ginning on August 2, 1990, and ending on December 31,
1991.
(d) IDENTIFICATION OF ILLNESSES.—Research to be
carried out pursuant to subsection (a) shall include identi-
fication of all illnesses (diagnosed and undiagnosed) that
Gulf War veterans are experiencing. The Director shall re-
view and summarize the relevant scientific evidence re-
garding the occurrence of such illnesses among Gulf War
veterans and among other populations considered appro-
priate for comparison. Matters to be reviewed and com-
pared with respect to those illnesses include symptoms,
mortality rates, and reproductive health problems ( includ-
ing birth defects).
(e) LIST OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES THAT PROVIDE
VALID MODELS OF SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT.—As part
of the management of research under this section, the Di-
rector shall compile a list of chronic illnesses for which
valid models of successful treatment are provided, as iden-
tified by—
(1) scientific data and literature;
(2) the views of Gulf War veterans of the effi-
cacy of the treatment;
(3) the views of private-sector medical special-
ists involved in researching Gulf War illnesses; and
(4) the views of private-sector medical clinicians
treating Gulf War veterans.
(f) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of
Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall each
enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Health and
Human Services to provide for the implementation of this
section. The agreements shall ensure that the Director of
the National Institutes of Health has the authority nec-
essary to carry out the responsibilities of the Director
under this section.
SEC. 3. DATABASE FOR TRACKING THE HEALTH STATUS,
CLINICAL PROGRESS, AND MEDICAL TREAT-
MENT OF GULF WAR VETERANS .
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DATABASE.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Na-
tional Institutes of Health shall establish a single
comprehensive database and monitoring system for
the collection, storage, and analysis of data covering
all Gulf War veterans in order to monitor the health
status and clinical progress of those veterans for the
purpose of identifying appropriate and effective
treatment needed to improve their health.
(2) SEPARATE TRACKING FOR VETERANS RE-
CEIVING
MEDICAL
CARE.—In the database under
paragraph (1), the Director shall identify and track
separately those Gulf War veterans who—
(A) are receiving medical care from the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(B) are receiving medical care from the
Secretary of Defense; and
(C) are receiving medical care in the pri-
vate sector.
(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION IN
DATABASE.—With the exception of information pro-
tected under section 552b of title 5, United States
Code (popularly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act’’), infor-
mation in the database shall be made available to
the public through the Internet World Wide Web
and other appropriate electronic and printed means.
(4) REQUIRED CONSULTATION.—The Director
shall establish the database in consultation with the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of
Defense.
(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to establish and carry out the
database under paragraph (1).
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED IN DATABASE.—The
database shall include—
(1) all diagnosed and undiagnosed illnesses,
symptoms, and syndromes of Gulf War veterans, in-
cluding fibromyalgias, rheumatic ailments, skin ul-
cers, sinus diseases, gastrointestinal or digestive dis-
eases (especially Crohn’s colitis, ulcerative colitis,
and inflammatory bowel disorders), respiratory dis-
eases, neurocognitive disorders, kidney stones, repro-
ductive illnesses, abnormalities, and birth defects;
(2) relevant medical data on illnesses reported
by the spouses and children of Gulf War veterans,
including, among other matters, reports of reproduc-
tive illnesses, abnormalities, and birth defects since
1990; and
(3) the medical treatment provided Gulf War
veterans for—
shall be stated each year in the annual report under sub-
section (b).
(b) REPORT.—Not later than March 15 each year,
the Comptroller General shall submit to the designated
congressional committees a report on the assessments
under subsection (a) for the preceding calendar year.
SEC. 6. RESEARCH PROTOCOL AND TRAINING.
(a) TREATMENT PROTOCOLS.—The Director of the
National Institutes of Health shall review the research
findings under section 2, and the database findings under
section 3, as those findings become available or not less
often than annually. The purpose of those reviews shall
be to develop new treatment protocols for individual and
multiple toxic exposures. The Director shall provide the
treatment protocols so developed—
(1) to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the
Secretary of Defense, who shall ensure that those
protocols are made available to attending physicians
in their respective departments; and
(2) to attending physicians in the private sector
as provided in section 7(d)(1).
(b) TRAINING PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National
Institutes of Health shall provide a program of
training for physicians of the Department of Veter-