[119th Congress Public Law 32]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 479]]
ACES ACT OF 2025
[[Page 139 STAT. 480]]
Public Law 119-32
119th Congress
An Act
To provide for a study by the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine on the prevalence and mortality of cancer
among individuals who served as active duty aircrew in the Armed Forces,
and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Aug. 14, 2025 - [S. 201]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: ACES Act of
2025.>>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``ACES Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND MORTALITY OF
CANCER AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED AS ACTIVE
DUTY AIRCREW IN THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) Agreement.--
(1) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> In general.--Not later than 30 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with the
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (in
this section referred to as the ``National Academies''), under
which the National Academies shall conduct a study on the
prevalence and mortality of cancers among covered individuals.
(2) Deadline.--
(A) Date.--The Secretary shall finalize the
agreement under paragraph (1) by not later than 60 days
after the date on which the Secretary enters
negotiations with the National Academies with respect to
such agreement.
(B) Report; briefings.--If the Secretary fails to
satisfy the requirement under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall--
(i) submit to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives
a report that includes--
(I) an explanation of the reasons
the Secretary failed to satisfy such
requirement; and
(II) an estimate of the date on
which the Secretary will finalize the
agreement under paragraph (1); and
(ii) not less frequently than once every 60
days after the date on which the Secretary failed
to satisfy such requirement, provide to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a briefing on the progress of the
Secretary toward finalizing such agreement.
[[Page 139 STAT. 481]]
(b) Study.--The study required under subsection (a) shall--
(1) identify exposures associated with military occupations
of covered individuals, including relating to chemicals,
compounds, agents, and other phenomena;
(2) review the literature to determine associations between
exposures referred to in paragraph (1) and the incidence or
prevalence of overall cancer morbidity, overall cancer
mortality, and increased incidence or prevalence of--
(A) brain cancer;
(B) colon and rectal cancers;
(C) kidney cancer;
(D) lung cancer;
(E) melanoma skin cancer;
(F) non-Hodgkin lymphoma;
(G) pancreatic cancer;
(H) prostate cancer;
(I) testicular cancer;
(J) thyroid cancer;
(K) urinary bladder cancer; and
(L) other cancers as determined appropriate by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the
National Academies; and
(3) determine, to the extent possible, the prevalence of and
mortality from the cancers specified in paragraph (2) among
covered individuals by using available sources of data, which
may include--
(A) health care and other administrative databases
of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of
Defense, and the individual Services, respectively;
(B) the national death index maintained by the
National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention; and
(C) the study conducted under section 750 of the
William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-
283; 134 Stat. 3716).
(c) Report.--At the conclusion of the study required under
subsection (a), the National Academies shall submit to the Secretary,
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report containing
the results of the study described in subsection (b).
(d) Covered Individual Defined.--In this section, the term ``covered
individual'' means an individual who served on active duty in the Army,
Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps as an aircrew member of a fixed-wing
aircraft, including as a pilot, navigator,
[[Page 139 STAT. 482]]
weapons systems operator, aircraft system operator, or any other crew
member who regularly flew in a fixed-wing aircraft.
Approved August 14, 2025.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 201 (H.R. 530):
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 171 (2025):
June 3, considered and passed Senate.
July 21, considered and passed House.
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