GRANT TO SUPPORT RESEARCH ON EXPOSURE TO HAZARDOUS AGENTS AND MATERIALS BY MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO SERVED IN THE PERSIAN GULF WAR.

SEC. 270. GRANT TO SUPPORT RESEARCH ON EXPOSURE TO HAZARDOUS AGENTS AND MATERIALS BY MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO SERVED IN THE PERSIAN GULF WAR. (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) A number of veterans of the Persian Gulf War have reported unexplained illnesses and claim that such illnesses are a consequence of exposure to hazardous agents or materials as a result of service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War. (2) Reports indicate that members of the Armed Forces who served in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War may have been exposed to hazardous agents, including chemical warfare agents, biotoxins, and other substances during such service. (3) It is in the interest of the United States that medical professionals providing care to members of the Armed Forces and to veterans understand the nature of the illnesses that such members and veterans may contract in order to ensure that such professionals have sufficient information to provide proper care to such members and veterans. (b) Grant To Support Establishment of Research Facility To Study Low-Level Chemical Sensitivities.—The Secretary of Defense is authorized to make a grant in the amount of $1,200,000 to a medical research institution for the purpose of constructing and equipping a specialized environmental medical facility at that institution for the conduct of research into the possible health effect of exposure to low levels of hazardous chemicals, including chemical warfare agents and other substances and the individual susceptibility of humans to such exposure under environmentally controlled conditions, and for the conduct of such research, especially among persons who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War. The grant shall be made in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The institution to which the grant is to be made shall be selected through established acquisition procedures. (c) Funding Source.—Funds for the grant under subsection (b) shall be made from amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1994 for research, development, test, and evaluation. (d) Selection Criteria.—To be eligible to be selected for a Kt under subsection (b), an institution must meet each of the wing requirements: (1) Be affiliated with an accredited hospital and be affiliated with, and in close proximity to, a Department of Defense medical and a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. (2) Enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Defense to ensure that research personnel of those affiliated medical 107 STAT. 1614facilities and other relevant Federal personnel may have access to the facility to carry out research. (3) Have demonstrated potential or ability to ensure the participation of scientific personnel with expertise in research on possible chemical sensitivities to low-level exposure to hazardous chemicals and other substances. (4) Have immediate access to sophisticated physiological imaging (including functional brain imaging) and other innovative research technology that could better define the possible health effects of low-level exposure to hazardous chemicals and other substances and lead to new therapies. (e) Participation by the Department of Defense.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each element of the Department of Defense provides to the medical research institution that is awarded the grant under subsection (b) any information possessed by that element on hazardous agents and materials to which members of the Armed Forces may have been exposed as a result of service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War and on the effects upon humans of such exposure. To the extent available, the information provided shall include unit designations, locations, and times for those instances in which such exposure is alleged to have occurred. (f) Reports to Congress.—Not later than October 1, 1994, and annually thereafter for the period that research described in subsection (b) is being carried out at the facility constructed with the grant made under this section, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the results during the year preceding the report of the research and studies carried out under the grant.