[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5166 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5166
To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the
Armed Forces to receive the anthrax and smallpox immunizations without
their consent, to correct the records of servicemembers previously
punished for refusing to take these vaccines, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 29, 2004
Mr. Shays (for himself and Mr. Towns) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Department of Defense from requiring members of the
Armed Forces to receive the anthrax and smallpox immunizations without
their consent, to correct the records of servicemembers previously
punished for refusing to take these vaccines, 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.
This Act may be cited as ``Armed Forces Voluntary Immunization and
Heath Justice Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. CONSENT OF SERVICEMEMBER REQUIRED FOR SMALLPOX AND ANTHRAX
IMMUNIZATIONS.
(a) Smallpox Vaccine Immunization Program.--A member of the Armed
Forces may not be required to participate in the smallpox vaccine
immunization program of the Department of Defense. A smallpox
immunization vaccination may not be administered to any such member
without the informed consent of the member.
(b) Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program.--A member of the Armed
Forces may not be required to participate in the anthrax vaccine
immunization program of the Department of Defense An anthrax
immunization vaccination may not be administered to any such member
without the informed consent of the member.
SEC. 3. CORRECTION OF RECORDS OF SERVICEMEMBERS PREVIOUSLY PUNISHED FOR
REFUSAL TO TAKE SMALLPOX OR ANTHRAX VACCINE.
(a) Correction.--In the case of a member or former member of the
Armed Forces who before the date of the enactment of this Act was
subject to any form of adverse personnel action as a result of the
refusal of the member or former member (while a member of the Armed
Forces) to take a vaccine covered by section 2, the Secretary
concerned, acting through the appropriate board for the correction of
military records under chapter 79 of title 10, United States Code,
shall, upon application, take such actions as may be necessary to
correct the military records of the member or former member so as to
obviate any adverse consequences of the member or former member's
refusal to take such a vaccine.
(b) Time for Application.--Any period established by law or
regulation for the submission of an application for correction of a
military record shall be treated, for purposes of an application to
make a correction by reason of subsection (a), as running from the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Expediting Consideration of Applications.--The Secretary of
each military department shall take such actions as may be necessary to
expedite consideration of applications for correction of military
records under subsection (a).
(d) Secretary Concerned.--In this section, the term ``Secretary
concerned'' has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 10,
United States Code.
(e) Annual Report.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall submit to
the congressional committees specified in paragraph (2) an annual
report on activities under this section. Each such report shall
identify the number of applications received for correction of military
records under this section, the basis for decisions taken on those
applications, and the types of actions taken with respect to those
applications.
(2) The congressional committees referred to in paragraph (1) are
the following:
(A) The Committee on Government Reform, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the
House of Representatives.
(B) The Committee on Governmental Affairs, the Committee on
Armed Services, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate.
SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT THREAT OF ANTHRAX AND SMALLPOX ATTACKS.
(a) Reevaluation Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall include
in the report to Congress specified in subsection (b) an assessment of
the current threat of an anthrax attack or a smallpox attack on members
of the Armed Forces. The assessment shall be prepared in consultation
with the head of each element of the intelligence community (as defined
in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C.
401a(4))).
(b) Annual Chem-Bio Report.--The report referred to in subsection
(a) is the next annual report submitted to Congress after the date of
the enactment of this Act under section 1703 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (50 U.S.C. 1523), relating to
chemical and biological warfare defense.
SEC. 5. RESEARCH FUNCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall--
(1) carry out an ongoing assessment of the adverse health
effects being reported by members and former members of the
Armed Forces with respect to the smallpox and anthrax vaccines
administered by the Department of Defense;
(2) carry out a research program to determine causal
relationships (if any) between such effects and those vaccines;
and
(3) prepare an estimate of the future cost to the
Department of Veterans Affairs to treat those adverse health
effects, if determined to be service-connected.
SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR MILITARY DEPLOYMENT HEALTH
RESEARCH.
(a) Establishment.--The President shall establish a National Center
for Military Deployment Health Research to coordinate and synthesize
research efforts by Federal departments and agencies relating to the
health effects of military deployments on members of the Armed Forces,
including members of the reserve components.
(b) Criteria.--To the maximum extent practicable, the center shall
be established in a manner consistent with the recommendations of the
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in a report
dated January 1, 1999, titled ``National Center for Military Deployment
Health Research''.
(c) Implementation.--The center shall be established not later than
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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