Health Care for Members of the Armed Forces Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Health Care for Members of the Armed Forces Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Defense, for each occupational and environmental health chemical hazard of particular concern, to establish and administer a registry of members and former members of the Armed Forces who were exposed to such hazard in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001. Requires the Secretary to: (1) notify a member or former member who may have been exposed to such a hazard; and (2) provide a complete physical and medical examination of such individual.
Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies for the Institute of Medicine under which the Institute, for each incident of exposure reported in a registry, shall review and summarize the scientific evidence, and assess the strength thereof, concerning the association between the exposure to such hazard and acute and long-term health consequences of such exposure. Requires the Institute to: (1) make recommendations for necessary additional scientific studies; and (2) conduct periodic subsequent reviews of such evidence.
Requires members and former members listed in registries to be notified of any conclusive determinations with respect to such exposure, as well as any other significant related developments.
Makes any veteran who was exposed in the line of duty to an occupational and environmental health chemical hazard of particular concern eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for any disability, notwithstanding insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the disability may be associated with such exposure.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 19, 2009. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 19, 2009: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
EVAN BAYH (D-IN) introduced it on March 19, 2009, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 6 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 19, 2009, 6384 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 6384 days ago, on March 19, 2009.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers