Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 4.djvu/171

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PUBLIC LAW 103-337—OCT. 5, 1994 108 STAT. 2805 (b) INCENTIVES TO PERSIAN GULF VETERANS TO REGISTER. — In order to encourage Persian Gulf veterans to register any S3maptoms they may have in one of the existing health registries, the Secretary of Defense shall provide the following: (1) For any Persian Gulf veteran who is on active duty and who registers with the Department of Defense's Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Surveilleince System, a full medical evaluation and any required medical care. (2) For any Persian Gulf War veteran who is, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, a member of a reserve component, opportunity to register at a military medical facility in the Persian Gulf Veterans Health Care Surveillance System and, in the case of a Reserve who registers in that registry, a full medical evaluation by the Department of Defense. Depending on the results of the evaluation and on eligibility status, reserve personnel may be provided medical care by the Department of Defense. (3) For a Persian Gulf veteran who is not, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, on active duty or a member of a reserve component, assistance and information at a military medical facility on registering with the Persian Gulf War Registry of the Department of Veterans Affairs and information related to support services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (c) COMPATIBILITY OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND DEPART- MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGISTRIES.— The Secretary of Defense shall take appropriate actions to ensure— (1) that the data collected by and the testing protocols of the Persian Gulf War Health Surveillance System maintained by the Department of Defense are compatible with the data collected by and the testing protocols of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Registry maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (2) that all information on individuals who register with the Department of Defense for purposes of the Persian Gulf War Health Surveillance System is provided to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for incorporation into the Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Registry. (d) PRESUMPTIONS ON BEHALF OF SERVICE MEMBER.—(1) A member of the Armed Forces who is a Persian Gulf veteran, who has symptoms of illness, and who the Secretary concerned finds may have become ill as a result of serving on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War shall be considered for Department of Defense purposes to have become ill as a result of serving in that theater of operations. (2) A member of the Armed Forces who is a Persian Gulf veteran and who reports being ill as a result of serving on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War shall be considered for Department of Defense purposes to have become ill as a result of serving in that theater of operations until such time as the weight of medical evidence establishes other cause or causes of the member's illness. (3) The Secretary concerned shall ensure that, for the purposes of health care treatment by the Department of Defense, health care and personnel administration, and disability evaluation by the Department of Defense, the symptoms of any member of the Armed Forces covered by paragraph (1) or (2) are examined in