ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT PATHOLOGY CENTER.

SEC. 722. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT PATHOLOGY CENTER.(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:(1) The Secretary of Defense proposed to disestablish all elements of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, except the National Medical Museum and the Tissue Repository, as part of the recommendations of the Secretary for the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the 2005 round of defense base closure and realignment.(2) The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission altered, but did not reject, the proposal of the Secretary of Defense to disestablish the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.(3) The Commission’s recommendation that the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology’s “capabilities not specified in this recommendation will be absorbed into other DOD, Federal, or civilian facilities” provides the flexibility to retain a Joint Pathology Center as a Department of Defense or Federal entity.(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has provided important medical benefits to the Armed Forces and to the United States and that the Federal Government should retain a Joint Pathology Center.(c) Establishment.—(1) Establishment required.—The President shall establish and maintain a Joint Pathology Center that shall function as the reference center in pathology for the Federal Government.122 STAT. 200(2) Establishment within dod.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Joint Pathology Center shall be established in the Department of Defense, consistent with the final recommendations of the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, as approved by the President.(3) Establishment in another department.—If the President makes a determination, within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, that the Joint Pathology Center cannot be established in the Department of Defense, the Joint Pathology Center shall be established as an element of a Federal agency other than the Department of Defense. The President shall incorporate the selection of such agency into the determination made under this paragraph.(d) Services.—The Joint Pathology Center shall provide, at a minimum, the following:(1) Diagnostic pathology consultation services in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary sciences.(2) Pathology education, to include graduate medical education, including residency and fellowship programs, and continuing medical education.(3) Diagnostic pathology research.(4) Maintenance and continued modernization of the Tissue Repository and, as appropriate, utilization of the Repository in conducting the activities described in paragraphs (1) through (3).