Walter Reed Injury Recovery (WIRe) Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1923 To require the Secretary of Defense to provide to employees of the United States Government and their family members timely access to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for medical assessment of anoma- lous health conditions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. COTTON (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mrs. SHA- HEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to provide to employees of the United States Government and their family mem- bers timely access to Walter Reed National Military Med- ical Center for medical assessment of anomalous health conditions. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Walter Reed Injury 4 Recovery (WIRe) Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1923 IS SEC. 2. ACCESS BY UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT EMPLOY- 1 EES AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS TO CER- 2 TAIN FACILITIES OF DEPARTMENT OF DE- 3 FENSE FOR ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT 4 OF ANOMALOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS. 5 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall 6 provide to employees of the United States Government and 7 their family members who the Secretary determines are 8 experiencing symptoms of certain anomalous health condi- 9 tions, as defined by the Secretary for purposes of this sec- 10 tion, timely access to Walter Reed National Military Med- 11 ical Center for medical assessment. 12 (b) TREATMENT.—With respect to an individual de- 13 scribed in subsection (a) diagnosed with an anomalous 14 health condition or a related affliction, whether diagnosed 15 under an assessment under subsection (a) or otherwise, 16 the Secretary shall furnish to the individual treatment for 17 the injury or affliction, subject to space availability, at the 18 National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed 19 National Military Medical Center. 20 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS.—The Secretary of 21 Defense, in consultation with the heads of such Federal 22 agencies as the Secretary considers appropriate, shall de- 23 velop a process to ensure that employees from those agen- 24 cies and their family members are afforded timely access 25 to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center pursuant 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1923 IS to subsection (a) by not later than 60 days after the date 1 of the enactment of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS