I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4463 
To provide for identification of members of the Armed Forces exposed during 
military service to depleted uranium, to provide for health testing of 
such members, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2004 
Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To provide for identification of members of the Armed Forces 
exposed during military service to depleted uranium, to 
provide for health testing of such members, 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 ‘‘Depleted Uranium 
Screeing and Testing Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. DEPLETED URANIUM RISK NOTIFICATION FOR DE-
PLOYING FORCES. 
(a) NOTIFICATION.— The Secretary of Defense shall 
establish procedures to require that, as part of the proce-
dures for preparing members of the Armed Forces for de-
ployment to a theater of operations, that such members 
be notified of— 
(1) any known or likely use of depleted uranium 
in that theater of operations (whether by forces of 
the United States and its allies or by any opposing 
forces); and 
(2) any health risks associated with exposure to 
depleted uranium. 
(b) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall provide for 
training deploying forces on how to handle depleted ura-
nium before deploying them to a theater in which depleted 
uranium is used. 
SEC. 3. DEPLETED URANIUM SCREENING AND TESTING. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION AND TESTING REQUIRED.—The 
Secretary of Defense shall carry out a program to identify 
individuals who during active service in the Armed Forces 
are or have been exposed to depleted uranium and to pro-
vide those individuals with bioassay testing and notifica-
tion of the results of such testing. 
(b) 
DU-EXPOSED
PERSONNEL
IDENTIFICATION 
METHODS.—(1) The Secretary of each military depart-
ment shall establish procedures to identify members of the 
Armed Forces under the Secretary’s jurisdiction who are, 
or may have been, exposed to depleted uranium. For such 
purpose, the Secretary shall identify units and members 
under paragraph (2) and shall accept self-identification re-
ports by members under paragraph (3). 
(2) The Secretary of each military department shall 
identify units, and personnel assigned to units, that have 
been, or could have been, exposed to depleted uranium, 
based upon information about known exposure events (as 
determined under subsection (c)). 
(3) The Secretary of each military department shall 
accept a report by an individual that the individual, while 
a member of the Armed Forces under the Secretary’s ju-
risdiction, was, or may have been, exposed to depleted ura-
nium based upon service on active duty (or training duty 
or funeral honors duty) in a theater of operations where 
depleted uranium was used, including travel through such 
an area. The Secretary shall prescribe procedures for re-
ceiving such reports. 
(4) In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary of 
each military department shall ensure that individuals no 
longer on active duty (including members of the reserve 
components who have been released from active duty, 
members who have been retired, and members who have
been separated from service) are treated, for identification 
purposes, in the same manner as individuals remaining on 
active duty. 
(c) EXPOSURE EVENTS.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall identify depleted uranium exposure events for pur-
poses of this section. The exposure events identified shall 
include the following: 
(1) An event in which an individual— 
(A) is struck by depleted uranium muni-
tions or depleted uranium armor fragments; 
(B) is within 50 meters of a vehicle or 
structure containing or equipped with depleted 
uranium cargo or components (such as aircraft 
counterweights and helicopter rotor tips) at a 
time that the vehicle or structure was struck, 
exploded, burned, or crashed; or 
(C) while acting as a first responder to an 
event described in subparagraph (B), enters 
within 50 meters of the vehicle or structure to 
render aid. 
(2) An event in which an individual— 
(A) enters a vehicle or structure with pos-
sible depleted uranium residues in order to per-
form maintenance, recovery, intelligence, or bat-
tle damage assessment; or
(B) breathes smoke from fires involving 
depleted uranium materials. 
(3) An event in which an individual may inhale 
depleted uranium particulates as a result of the han-
dling of depleted uranium contaminated equipment 
or wreckage or exposure to particulate residues as 
part of maintenance duties (including duties as a 
welder or ammunition handler or duties involving 
cleanup or processing of depleted uranium contami-
nated equipment). 
(4) Other incidental exposures identified by the 
Secretary, including the performance of activities in 
the area of depleted uranium damaged vehicles or 
structures or the traveling through or residing in 
any such area. 
In addition to exposure events described in paragraphs (1) 
through (4) occurring on or after the the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, such events during the period between 
January 1, 2003, and the date of the enactment of this 
Act may be considered for purposes of this section, but 
only if reported during the 60-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) HEALTH-CARE SERVICES REQUIRED.—(1) Any 
individual identified under subsection (b) shall be provided 
a health screening test by the Secretary of Defense. Such
test shall be carried out using a bioassay procedure devel-
oped by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same 
bioassay procedure shall be used for all types of exposure 
or possible exposure under subsection (c). 
(2)(A) In the case of an individual with an exposure 
event described in subsection (c) other than under para-
graph (4) of that subsection, the bioassay under para-
graph (1) shall be administered not later than 180 days 
after the date of the event. 
(B) In the case of an individual with an exposure 
event described in subsection (c)(4), the bioassay under 
paragraph (1) shall be administered not later than 30 days 
after the end of the individual’s deployment in the theater 
of operations, but such individual may be provided the bio-
assay earlier upon the individual’s request. 
(3) The Secretary of Defense shall provide the results 
of any bioassay procedure under this subsection to the in-
dividual tested, and the primary care manager or primary 
care provider of that individual, not later than 30 days 
after the Secretary receives those results. 
(e) PERSONNEL TRACKING.—The Secretary of each 
military department shall establish procedures for col-
lecting, tracking, and maintaining information on the 
health status of individuals tested under subsection (d) for