ment facility for injuries sustained in armed 
hostilities before Operation Enduring Freedom 
and Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
(E) One member shall be a civilian expert 
in military healthcare. 
(2) GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS.—All members 
of the Oversight Board shall have sufficient knowl-
edge of, or experience with, the military healthcare 
system 
or 
the 
experience 
of 
a 
recovering 
servicemember or family member of a recovering 
servicemember. 
(d) DUTIES.— 
(1) ADVICE
AND
CONSULTATION.—The Over-
sight Board shall provide advise and consultation to 
the Department of Defense and the appropriate con-
gressional committees regarding— 
(A) the process for streamlining the phys-
ical disability evaluation systems of the military 
departments under section 3; 
(B) the process for correcting and improv-
ing the ratios of caseworkers and supervising 
officers to recovering servicemembers under sec-
tion 4; 
(C) the need to revise Department of De-
fense policies to improve the experience of re-
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covering servicemembers while under Depart-
ment of Defense care; 
(D) the need to revise Department of De-
fense policies to improve counseling, outreach, 
and general services provided to family mem-
bers of recovering servicemembers pursuant to 
sections 6 and 7; 
(E) the need to revise Department of De-
fense policies regarding the provision of quality 
lodging to recovering servicemembers; 
(F) progress made in implementing this 
Act; and 
(G) such other matters relating to the eval-
uation and care of recovering servicemembers, 
including evaluation and care under physical 
disability evaluation systems, as the Board con-
siders appropriate. 
(2) VISITS TO MILITARY MEDICAL TREATMENT 
FACILITIES.—In carrying out its duties, the Over-
sight Board shall visit not less than three military 
medical treatment facilities each year, and shall con-
duct each year at least one meeting of all the mem-
bers of the Board at a military medical treatment 
facility. 
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(e) STAFF.—The Secretary shall make available the 
services of at least two officials or employees of the De-
partment of Defense to provide support and assistance to 
members of the Oversight Board. 
(f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Oversight 
Board shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 
in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 
of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code, while away from their homes or reg-
ular places of business in the performance of service for 
the Oversight Board. 
(g) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the members of the Oversight Board shall 
have the right to access information related to the 
deliberations, processes, and documents of the De-
partment of Defense pertaining to actions taken 
under this Act. 
(2) NATIONAL
SECURITY
EXCEPTION.—The 
Oversight Board shall not have the right to access 
information otherwise required under paragraph (1) 
if the Secretary— 
(A) notifies the Oversight Board that dis-
closure of such information would compromise 
the national security of the United States; and 
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(B) upon request of the Oversight Board, 
provides the information in classified form to 
the appropriate congressional committees. 
(h) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Oversight Board shall 
submit to the Secretary of Defense and the appropriate 
congressional committees each year a report on its activi-
ties under this Act during the preceding year, including 
any findings and recommendations of the Oversight Board 
as a result of such activities. 
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Armed Services of 
the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Armed Services of 
the House of Representatives. 
(2) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘‘family mem-
ber’’, with respect to a recovering servicemember, 
has the meaning given that term in section 411h(b) 
of title 37, United States Code. 
(3) PHYSICAL
DISABILITY
EVALUATION
SYS-
TEMS.—The term ‘‘physical disability evaluation sys-
tems’’ means the following: 
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(A) In the case of the Department of the 
Army, the Physical Disability Evaluation Sys-
tem (PDES) of the Army. 
(B) In the case of any other military de-
partment, the physical disability evaluation sys-
tem or similar system or process of such mili-
tary departments that carries out functions 
equivalent to the function carried out for the 
Army by the Physical Disability Evaluation 
System of the Army. 
(4) RECOVERING SERVICEMEMBER.—The term 
‘‘recovering servicemember’’ means a member of the 
Armed Forces, including a member of the National 
Guard or a Reserve, who is undergoing medical 
treatment, recuperation, or therapy, or is otherwise 
in medical hold or holdover status, for an injury, ill-
ness, or disease incurred or aggravated while on ac-
tive duty in the Armed Forces. 
Æ 
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