K2 Veterans Advocacy Act of 2020

II Calendar No. 546 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4384 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to address exposure by members of the Armed Forces to toxic substances at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported by Mr. MORAN, without amendment A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to address expo- sure by members of the Armed Forces to toxic sub- stances at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, 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 ‘‘K2 Veterans Advocacy 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4384 RS SEC. 2. STUDY ON EXPOSURE BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 1 FORCES TO TOXICANTS AT KARSHI- 2 KHANABAD AIR BASE IN UZBEKISTAN. 3 (a) AGREEMENT AND STUDY.—Not later than 60 4 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into an agreement 6 with the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Sub- 7 stances and Disease Registry for the Administrator to 8 complete, not later than two years after the date of the 9 enactment of this Act, a study to identify and assess any 10 causation or correlation between— 11 (1) exposure to toxicants at the Karshi- 12 Khanabad (K2) Air Base in Uzbekistan during the 13 period beginning on October 7, 2001, and ending on 14 November 21, 2005; and 15 (2) incidents of cancer and other diseases or ill- 16 nesses experienced by individuals who were members 17 of the Armed Forces during the period described in 18 paragraph (1) and exposed to toxicants as described 19 in such paragraph. 20 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study conducted under sub- 21 section (a) shall include the following: 22 (1) An assessment regarding the conditions of 23 Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, during the 24 period beginning on October 1, 2001, and ending on 25 December 31, 2005, including an identification of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4384 RS toxic substances contaminating the Air Base during 1 such period. 2 (2) An epidemiological study of the health con- 3 sequences of individuals who were members of the 4 Armed Forces deployed to the Air Base during such 5 period. 6 (c) SUPPORT FOR STUDY.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 8 the Administrator with assistance in carrying out 9 the study required by subsection (a), including by 10 gathering such information as the Administrator 11 may consider useful in carrying out the study, in- 12 cluding environmental sampling data relative to any 13 location included in the study. 14 (2) OBTAINING INFORMATION CONCERNING EX- 15 POSURE.—Assistance under paragraph (1) provided 16 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include 17 compiling information on exposure described in sub- 18 section (a)(1) and any head of a Federal department 19 or agency with information concerning such expo- 20 sure, including the Secretary of Defense, shall pro- 21 vide the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with such in- 22 formation concerning such exposure as the Secretary 23 of Veterans Affairs considers appropriate for pur- 24 poses of the study required by subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4384 RS (d) REPORT.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 4 Congress a report on the matters covered by the 5 study completed under subsection (a). 6 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para- 7 graph (1) shall include the following: 8 (A) The findings of the Administrator with 9 respect to the study completed under subsection 10 (a). 11 (B) A description of— 12 (i) the benefits administered by the 13 Secretary that a veteran may be eligible to 14 receive by reason of being exposed to toxic 15 substances at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, 16 Uzbekistan, while serving in the Armed 17 Forces; and 18 (ii) the outreach conducted by the 19 Secretary to inform such veterans of such 20 benefits. 21 (3) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS 22 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro- 23 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4384 RS (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 1 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 2 Senate; and 3 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 4 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 5 House of Representatives. 6 (e) INCLUSION OF UZBEKISTAN IN CERTAIN REG- 7 ISTRIES AND PROGRAMS.—Section 201(c)(2) of the Dig- 8 nified Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement 9 Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 38 U.S.C. 527 note) 10 is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 11 by striking ‘‘Afghanistan or Iraq’’ and inserting ‘‘Afghani- 12 stan, Iraq, or Uzbekistan’’. 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 546 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4384 A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ad- dress exposure by members of the Armed Forces to toxic substances at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, and for other purposes. SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Sep 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S4384.RS S4384 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS