Referred in Senate

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 530 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 530

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 6, 2025

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

     To provide for a study by the National Academies of Sciences,
  Engineering, and Medicine on the prevalence and mortality of cancer
   among individuals who served as active duty aircrew in the Armed
                    Forces, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``ACES Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND MORTALITY OF CANCER

SEC. 2. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND MORTALITY OF CANCER
              AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED AS ACTIVE DUTY AIRCREW IN
              THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Agreement.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
        shall seek to enter into an agreement with the National
        Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (in this

section referred to as the ``National Academies''), under which

section referred to as the ``National Academies''), under which
        the National Academies shall conduct a study on the prevalence
        and mortality of cancers among covered individuals.
            (2) Deadline.--
                    (A) Date.--The Secretary shall finalize the
                agreement under paragraph (1) by not later than 60 days
                after the date on which the Secretary enters
                negotiations with the National Academies with respect
                to such agreement.
                    (B) Report; briefings.--If the Secretary fails to
                satisfy the requirement under subparagraph (A), the
                Secretary shall--
                            (i) submit to the Committees on Veterans'
                        Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
                        Senate a report that includes--
                                    (I) an explanation of the reasons
                                the Secretary failed to satisfy such
                                requirement; and
                                    (II) an estimate of the date on
                                which the Secretary will finalize the
                                agreement under paragraph (1); and
                            (ii) not less frequently than once every 60
                        days after the date on which the Secretary
                        failed to satisfy such requirement, provide to
                        the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the
                        House of Representatives and the Senate a
                        briefing on the progress of the Secretary
                        toward finalizing such agreement.
    (b) Study.--The study required under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) identify exposures associated with military occupations
        of covered individuals, including relating to chemicals,
        compounds, agents, and other phenomena;
            (2) review the literature to determine associations between
        exposures referred to in paragraph (1) and the incidence or
        prevalence of overall cancer morbidity, overall cancer
        mortality, and increased incidence or prevalence of--
                    (A) brain cancer;
                    (B) colon and rectal cancers;
                    (C) kidney cancer;
                    (D) lung cancer;
                    (E) melanoma skin cancer;
                    (F) non-Hodgkin lymphoma;
                    (G) pancreatic cancer;
                    (H) prostate cancer;
                    (I) testiscular cancer;
                    (J) thyroid cancer;
                    (K) urinary bladder cancer; and
                    (L) other cancers as determined appropriate by the
                Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the
                National Academies; and
            (3) determine, to the extent possible, the prevalence of
        and mortality from the cancers specified in paragraph (2) among
        covered individuals by using available sources of data, which
        may include--
                    (A) health care and other administrative databases
                of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department
                of Defense, and the individual Services, respectively;
                    (B) the national death index maintained by the
                National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers
                for Disease Control and Prevention; and
                    (C) the study conducted under section 750 of the
                William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
                Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-
                283; 134 Stat. 3716).
    (c) Report.--At the conclusion of the study required under
subsection (a), the National Academies shall submit to the Secretary
and to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Senate a report containing the results of the
study described in subsection (b).
    (d) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term
``covered individual'' means an individual who served on active duty in
the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps as an aircrew member of a
fixed-wing aircraft, including as a pilot, navigator, weapons systems
operator, aircraft system operator, or any other crew member who
regularly flew in a fixed-wing aircraft.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF PENSION.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF PENSION.

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``November 30, 2031'' and inserting ``December 31, 2031''.

            Passed the House of Representatives May 5, 2025.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.