Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1143 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1143
5	5	To direct the Secretary of Defense to carry out a grant program to increase
6	6	cooperation on post-traumatic stress disorder research between the
7	7	United States and Israel.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH30, 2023
10	10	Mr. M
11	11	ORAN(for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. HAS-
12	12	SAN, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. MENENDEZ)
13	13	introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
14	14	Committee on Foreign Relations
15	15	A BILL
16	16	To direct the Secretary of Defense to carry out a grant
17	17	program to increase cooperation on post-traumatic stress
18	18	disorder research between the United States and Israel.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Israel 4
23	23	PTSD Collaborative Research Act’’. 5
24	24	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
25	25	Congress makes the following findings: 7
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28	28	•S 1143 IS
29	29	(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports 1
30	30	that between 11 and 20 percent of veterans who 2
31	31	served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 3
32	32	Enduring Freedom have post-traumatic stress dis-4
33	33	order (in this subsection referred to as ‘‘PTSD’’) in 5
34	34	a given year. In addition, that figure amounts to 6
35	35	about 12 percent of Gulf War veterans and up to 30 7
36	36	percent of Vietnam veterans. 8
37	37	(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs reports 9
38	38	that among women veterans of the conflicts in Iraq 10
39	39	and Afghanistan, almost 20 percent have been diag-11
40	40	nosed with PTSD. 12
41	41	(3) It is thought that 70 percent of individuals 13
42	42	in the United States have experienced at least one 14
43	43	traumatic event in their lifetime, and approximately 15
44	44	20 percent of those individuals have struggled or 16
45	45	continue to struggle with symptoms of PTSD. 17
46	46	(4) Studies show that PTSD has links to home-18
47	47	lessness and substance abuse in the United States. 19
48	48	The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 20
49	49	approximately 11 percent of the homeless population 21
50	50	are veterans and the Substance Abuse and Mental 22
51	51	Health Services Administration estimates that about 23
52	52	seven percent of veterans have a substance abuse 24
53	53	disorder. 25
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56	56	•S 1143 IS
57	57	(5) Our ally Israel, under constant attack from 1
58	58	terrorist groups, experiences similar issues with 2
59	59	Israeli veterans facing symptoms of PTSD. The Na-3
60	60	tional Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience at 4
61	61	Tel Aviv University found that five to eight percent 5
62	62	of combat soldiers experience some form of PTSD, 6
63	63	and during wartime, that figure rises to 15 to 20 7
64	64	percent. 8
65	65	(6) Current treatment options in the United 9
66	66	States focus on cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, 10
67	67	or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, 11
68	68	but the United States must continue to look for 12
69	69	more effective treatments. Several leading hospitals, 13
70	70	academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations in 14
71	71	Israel dedicate research and services to treating 15
72	72	PTSD. 16
73	73	SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR INCREASED COOPERATION 17
74	74	ON POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER RE-18
75	75	SEARCH BETWEEN UNITED STATES AND 19
76	76	ISRAEL. 20
77	77	(a) S
78	78	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-21
79	79	gress that the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 22
80	80	Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Re-23
81	81	search Program, should seek to explore scientific collabo-24
82	82	ration between academic institutions and nonprofit re-25
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85	85	•S 1143 IS
86	86	search entities in the United States and institutions in 1
87	87	Israel with expertise in researching, diagnosing, and treat-2
88	88	ing post-traumatic stress disorder. 3
89	89	(b) G
90	90	RANTPROGRAM.— 4
91	91	(1) I
92	92	N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in 5
93	93	coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 6
94	94	and the Secretary of State, shall award grants to eli-7
95	95	gible entities to carry out collaborative research be-8
96	96	tween the United States and Israel with respect to 9
97	97	post-traumatic stress disorders. 10
98	98	(2) A
99	99	GREEMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 11
100	100	shall carry out the grant program under this section 12
101	101	in accordance with the Agreement on the United 13
102	102	States-Israel binational science foundation with ex-14
103	103	change of letters, signed at New York September 27, 15
104	104	1972, and entered into force on September 27, 16
105	105	1972. 17
106	106	(c) E
107	107	LIGIBLEENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 18
108	108	grant under this section, an entity shall be an academic 19
109	109	institution or a nonprofit entity located in the United 20
110	110	States. 21
111	111	(d) A
112	112	WARD.—The Secretary shall award grants 22
113	113	under this section to eligible entities that— 23
114	114	(1) carry out a research project that— 24
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117	117	•S 1143 IS
118	118	(A) addresses a requirement in the area of 1
119	119	post-traumatic stress disorders that the Sec-2
120	120	retary determines appropriate to research using 3
121	121	such grant; and 4
122	122	(B) is conducted by the eligible entity and 5
123	123	an entity in Israel under a joint research agree-6
124	124	ment; and 7
125	125	(2) meet such other criteria that the Secretary 8
126	126	may establish. 9
127	127	(e) A
128	128	PPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 10
129	129	under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli-11
130	130	cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 12
131	131	containing such commitments and information as the Sec-13
132	132	retary may require. 14
133	133	(f) G
134	134	IFTAUTHORITY.— 15
135	135	(1) I
136	136	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may accept, 16
137	137	hold, and administer any gift of money made on the 17
138	138	condition that the gift be used for the purpose of the 18
139	139	grant program under this section. 19
140	140	(2) D
141	141	EPOSIT.—Gifts of money accepted under 20
142	142	paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the Treasury in 21
143	143	the Department of Defense General Gift Fund and 22
144	144	shall be available, subject to appropriation, without 23
145	145	fiscal year limitation. 24
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149	149	(g) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 1
150	150	date on which an eligible entity completes a research 2
151	151	project using a grant under this section, the Secretary 3
152	152	shall submit to Congress a report that contains— 4
153	153	(1) a description of how the eligible entity used 5
154	154	the grant; and 6
155	155	(2) an evaluation of the level of success of the 7
156	156	research project. 8
157	157	(h) T
158	158	ERMINATION.—The authority to award grants 9
159	159	under this section shall terminate on the date that is seven 10
160	160	years after the date on which the first such grant is 11
161	161	awarded. 12
162	162	Æ
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