Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 5.djvu/563

 PUBLIC LAW 105-368—NOV. 11, 1998 112 STAT. 3321 (3) Reports shall be submitted under this subsection at least once every 2 years, as measured from the date of the report under paragraph (2). (4) In any report under this subsection (other than the report under paragraph (2)), the Academy may specify an absence of meaningful developments in the scientific or medical community with respect to the activities of the Academy under this section during the 2-year period ending on the date of such report. (i) REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—(1) The Secretary shall review each report from the Academy under subsection (h). As part of such review, the Secretary shall seek comments on, and evaluation of, the Academ/s report from the heads of other affected departments and agencies of the United States. (2) Based upon a review under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the available scientific and medical information regarding the health consequences of Persian Gulf War service and of exposures to risk factors during service in the Persian Gulf War. The Secretary shall include in the report the Secretary's recommendations as to whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a presimiption of service-connection for the occurrence of a specified condition in Gulf War veterans. In determining whether to make such a recommendation, the Secretary shall consider the matters specified in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of subsection (e)(1). (3) The report under this subsection shall be submitted not Deadline. later than 120 days after the date on which the Secretary receives the report from the Academy. (j) SUNSET. —This section shall cease to be effective 11 years after the last day of the fiscal year in which the National Academy of Sciences enters into an agreement with the Secretary under subsection (b). (k) DEFINITION. —In this section, the term "toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine associated with Gulf War service" means a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine that is known or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War, whether such association arises as a result of single, repeated, or sustained exposure and whether such association arises through exposure singularly or in combination. SEC. 102. HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS OF PERSIAN GULF WAR AND FUTURE CONFLICTS. (a) AUTHORITY.— Section 1710(e) is amended— (1) by adding at the end of paragraph (1) the following new subparagraph: "(D) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a veteran who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations (as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Defense) during a period of war after the Persian Gulf War, or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities (as defined in section 1712A(a)(2)(B) of this title) after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, is eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care under subsection (a)(2)(F) for any illness.

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