OATH Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2617 To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance recordkeeping with respect to exposure by members of the Armed Forces to certain occupational and environmental hazards while deployed overseas, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2019 Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself and Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Serv- ices, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to enhance record- keeping with respect to exposure by members of the Armed Forces to certain occupational and environmental hazards while deployed overseas, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Service Member’s Oc- 4 cupational and Environmental Transparency Health Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘OATH Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2617 IH SEC. 2. INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE ADDED TO MED- 1 ICAL RECORDS OF CERTAIN MEMBERS OF 2 THE ARMED FORCES. 3 (a) OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 4 RISKS IN DEPLOYMENT AREA.— 5 (1) ELEMENTS OF MEDICAL TRACKING SYS- 6 TEM.—Subsection (b)(1)(A) of section 1074f of title 7 10, United States Code, is amended— 8 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 9 end; 10 (B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at 11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 13 clause: 14 ‘‘(iv) accurately record any exposure to oc- 15 cupational and environmental health risks dur- 16 ing the course of their deployment.’’. 17 (2) RECORDKEEPING.—Subsection (c) of such 18 section is amended by inserting after ‘‘deployment 19 area’’ the following: ‘‘(including the results of any 20 assessment performed by the Secretary of occupa- 21 tional and environmental health risks for such 22 area)’’. 23 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 24 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 25 enactment of this subsection. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2617 IH (b) BURN PIT REGISTRY.— 1 (1) UPDATES TO ELECTRONIC HEALTH 2 RECORDS.—Beginning not later than one year after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act— 4 (A) the Secretary of Defense shall ensure 5 that the electronic health record maintained by 6 such Secretary of a member of the Armed 7 Forces registered with the burn pit registry is 8 updated with any information contained in such 9 registry; and 10 (B) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 11 ensure that the electronic health record main- 12 tained by such Secretary of a veteran registered 13 with the burn pit registry is updated with any 14 information contained in such registry. 15 (2) BURN PIT REGISTRY DEFINED.—In this 16 subsection, the term ‘‘burn pit registry’’ means the 17 registry established under section 201 of the Dig- 18 nified Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improve- 19 ment Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 20 527 note). 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2617 IH SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR 1 POSTDEPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION 2 AND HEALTH REASSESSMENTS. 3 (a) POSTDEPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION AND 4 REASSESSMENTS.—Section 1074f of title 10, United 5 States Code, as amended by section 2, is further amended 6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR 8 POSTDEPLOYMENT MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS AND 9 HEALTH REASSESSMENTS.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 10 shall— 11 ‘‘(A) standardize and make available to a pro- 12 vider that conducts a postdeployment medical exam- 13 ination or reassessment under the system described 14 in subsection (a) questions relating to occupational 15 and environmental health exposure; and 16 ‘‘(B) prior to an examination or reassessment 17 of a member of the armed forces, require such pro- 18 vider to review information applicable to such mem- 19 ber— 20 ‘‘(i) in a Periodic Occupational and Envi- 21 ronmental Monitoring Summary (or any suc- 22 cessor document); and 23 ‘‘(ii) on the Defense Occupational and En- 24 vironmental Health Readiness System (or any 25 successor system). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2617 IH ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the medical 1 record of a member includes information on the external 2 cause relating to a diagnosis of the member, including by 3 associating an external cause code (as issued under the 4 International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th 5 Revision (or any successor revision)).’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 7 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of 8 the enactment of this section. 9 SEC. 4. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 10 UNITED STATES. 11 (a) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 12 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 13 the United States shall submit to the congressional de- 14 fense committees and the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 15 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 16 containing an evaluation of the implementation of this Act 17 (and the amendments made by this Act), including an as- 18 sessment of the extent to which the Secretary of Defense 19 and Secretary of Veterans Affairs are in compliance with 20 the applicable requirements of this Act (and the amend- 21 ments made by this Act). 22 (b) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE- 23 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional defense 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2617 IH committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 1 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2617.IH H2617 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS