S.Amdt. 2525

SA 2525. Ms. HIRONO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle C of title VII, add the following:

SEC. 729. ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY DENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--Chapter 104 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 2116 the
following new section:

``Sec. 2116a. Military dental research

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `military dental research' means research on
the furnishing of dental care and services by dentists in the
armed forces.
``(2) The term `TriService Dental Research Program' means
the program of military dental research authorized under this
section.
``(b) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Defense may
establish at the University a program of military dental
research.
``(c) Triservice Research Group.--The TriService Dental
Research Program shall be administered by a TriService Dental
Research Group composed of Army, Navy, and Air Force dentists
who are involved in military dental research and are
designated by the Secretary concerned to serve as members of
the group.
``(d) Duties of Group.--The TriService Dental Research
Group described in subsection (c) shall--
``(1) develop for the Department of Defense recommended
guidelines for requesting, reviewing, and funding proposed
military dental research projects; and
``(2) make available to Army, Navy, and Air Force dentists
and officials of the Department of Defense who conduct
military dental research--
``(A) information about dental research projects that are
being developed or carried out in the Army, Navy, and Air
Force; and
``(B) expertise and information beneficial to the
encouragement of meaningful dental research.
``(e) Research Topics.--For purposes of this section,
military dental research includes research on the following
issues:
``(1) Issues regarding how to ensure the readiness of
members of the armed forces on active duty and in the reserve
components with respect to the provision of dental care and
services.
``(2) Issues regarding preventive dentistry and disease
management, including early detection of needs.
``(3) Issues regarding how to improve the results of dental
care and services provided in the armed forces in time of
peace.
``(4) Issues regarding how to improve the results of dental
care and services provided in the armed forces in time of
war.

[[Page S3367]]

``(5) Issues regarding minimizing or eliminating emergent
dental conditions and dental disease and non-battle injuries
in deployed settings.
``(6) Issues regarding how to prevent complications
associated with dental-related battle injuries.
``(7) Issues regarding how to prevent complications
associated with the transportation of dental patients in the
military medical evacuation system.
``(8) Issues regarding the use of technological advances,
including distance learning and teledentistry.
``(9) Issues regarding psychological distress in receiving
dental care and services.
``(10) Issues regarding how to improve methods of training
dental personnel, including dental assistants and dental
extenders.
``(11) Wellness issues relating to dental care and
services.
``(12) Case management issues relating to dental care and
services.
``(13) Issues regarding the use of alternate dental care
delivery systems, including the employment of
interprofessional practice models incorporating multiple
health professions.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 104 of such title is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 2116 the
following new item:

``2116a. Military dental research.''.
______